Obituary of William H. Phipps

William H. “Bill” Phipps, 94 of 320 S. Dubuque Street, Iowa City died Tuesday, May 6, 2008, at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 10, 2008, at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service with burial with military honors at Memory Gardens Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 7pm Friday at the funeral home. A memorial fund has been established in Bill’s memory. Online condolences may be sent for his family through the web @ www.gayandciha.com. William Halicy Phipps was born September 17, 1913, in Knifley, Kentucky, the son of Jonathan and Lola (Pittman) Phipps. On January 18, 1940, Bill married Marguerite M. Mansberger in Three Rivers, MI. During World War II he served in the United States Army. The couple moved to the Iowa City area where Bill along with his brother Dick owned and operated Phipps Standard Station on Burlington Street. Bill left this to open his own station, Bill’s Standard where the Iowa City Library is now located. During this time his wife and he opened the Depot Restaurant which they owned and operated for a number of years. He later became a licensed Realtor working for himself, and a couple other realtors in this area. His last five years of employment was with the University of Iowa as Custodian Supervisor. Bill was a member of the IOOF Lodge in Iowa City, in years past a member of a number of local bowling leagues. Because of immaculate degeneration of his eyesight he was forced to give up many of the things he enjoyed in life. But this didn’t stop him; he still was able to live in his own apartment at Capital House, enjoyed eating out with family and friends, going to horse races and casinos, and being a late bloomer as a Chicago Cubs Fan! Bill’s family includes his children, James “Jim” Phipps and his wife, Marlene of Iowa City, and Patricia “Pat” Burrows and her husband, Rayner of Kalona; six grandchildren, Mick, Jerry, Bob, and Ed Phipps, and Sonja and Seth Burrows; two great-grandchildren, Stephanie and Faith Phipps; brother, Richard “Dick” Phipps and his wife, Babe of Hot Springs, AK; and Bill’s special friends, Duane and Kathy Anderson, Jack Bowles and his now deceased wife, Barbara, Marguerite “Glenda” Edwards, and Todd and Debbie Plath. He was preceded in death by his parents, wife, and infant sister, Pauline. Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service is caring for Bill’s family and his services.