Page 8 - YC360 Spring 2021 Edition

on the Yavapai College Foundation
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YC360 A Yavapai College Publication
YC’s dynamic benefactor Jean Phillips “always approached life with a positive attitude,” daughter Jan Mackey said.
YC Loses a
Guardian Angel
Mom had an eye for detail, and she understood fundraising.”
– daughter Jan Mackey
YJean Phillips’s Legacy is a Thriving College and Community
avapai College lost a founding in. Mel became the “gentleman doctor,” As YCF president, Jean oversaw the mother and a guiding spirit in treating patients as far away as Bagdad. construction of the Performing Arts Center December, when Jean Phillips Jean helped establish Prescott’s charter and chaired the Foundation’s scholarship
passed away from complications of COVID pneumonia. She was 96 years old.
A child of Elgin, Illinois, Jean was raised during the Great Depression. Her family couldn’t afford college, so she worked at the YWCA, then U.S. Gypsum in Chicago and then as a newspaper proofreader before marrying Dr. Mel Phillips in 1944.
They came to Arizona in 1948, when
Mel secured a practice at Grand Canyon National Park. “We had a little dog that we loved and when we got [to the Canyon] the ranger said, ‘no dogs.’” Jean recalled. “We looked at the dog, said ‘thanks but no thanks,’ and drove to Prescott.”
Their loss was Prescott’s gain. The town’s 6,000 people were desperate for medical care and civic leadership. The couple dug
government and many of its defining institutions.
“Mom had an eye for detail, and she understood fundraising,” daughter Jan Mackey said. “She always approached life with a positive attitude.” Jean’s
work led to the creation of the Prescott Center for the Arts; the Yavapai Regional Medical Center Foundation; West Yavapai Guidance Clinic, Samaritan Village
and the expansion of the Prescott Public Library.
Knowing education was critical to growth, Jean and Mel also played critical roles in the establishment of Yavapai College and the YC Foundation. They created YCF’s first endowed nursing scholarship, which kept student nurses working at YRMC through the state’s nursing shortage.
committee for thirty years.
Though she won many honors – including Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year, Philanthropist of the Year, and Woman
of the Year – Jean’s legacy resides in
the countless people who found success through the opportunities she and Mel created. “You can’t get a better feeling than helping someone else get a step up,” she explained.
The Yavapai College Foundation encourages those wishing to honor Jean to contribute to the Phillips Health Scholarship Fund. (www.yc.edu/jean) “Scholarships
are a win-win, because your gift goes
on.” Jean said, “When a person gets a scholarship, they get an opportunity. Their life changes. As a result, their children get more opportunities and on and on.”