Obituary of Mary Frances Slusser Phillips
Mary Frances Slusser Phillips, 91 was called to her eternal home with Jesus on Sunday, September 15, 2019 while at her home in Warner Robins, GA. She was born in Fairmont, WV on February 14, 1928 to the late Hubert and Clara (Smith) Slusser. She was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, John Douglas Phillips of Fairmont.
She loved Jesus and loved people. At a young age she asked Jesus to be her Savior. She attended the Salvation Army in Fairmont in her younger years and played in the Salvation Army band. Around age 16, she and her family began attending the First Church of the Nazarene in Fairmont. After her marriage to John, they began attending the Fairmont Free Methodist Church.
She attended East Fairmont High School and WV Business College. She was a telephone operator for Bell before working at Westinghouse. She later worked in the office at Hartley’s Department Store before she was office manager for her husband’s business, JD Hydraulics from which she retired.
Throughout the years, she taught Sunday School, served on various church boards, and used her voice to sing praises to the Lord in music and in witness of God’s mighty love and grace. She enjoyed being an Auxiliary Gideon with her husband John who was a Gideon.
After her husband’s death in July 2007, she spent time with her daughter and son-in-law in PA and participated in the life of the Jeannette Free Methodist and the Mount Pleasant Free Methodist churches. She then moved with them to Warner Robins, GA where she resided for the past nine years and enjoyed worshipping at Harvest Church.
She truly enjoyed living closer to her grandson and going to Braves baseball games with him. During her final days, she received care from Heart of Georgia Hospice.
She is survived by her daughter Frances Phillips Powviriya and son-in-law Tana Powviriya of Warner Robins, GA, her grandson Geoffrey Powviriya of Byron, GA, as well as many nieces and nephews in Fairmont and throughout the U.S.. She is also survived by her cousin Elton (Florice) Slusser of Fairmont who was like a brother to her, brother-in-law Robert (Patty) Phillips, and her sister-in-law Rosalee (Everett) Nixon of Fairmont.
In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her six sisters Helen Sherbondy, Dorothy Boyers, Judith Myers, Edith Jones, Ruth McClure and Jeanette Swiger.
The family requests memorial gifts be given to either The Gideons International - Fairmont Camp at 1811 Pleasant Valley Road, Fairmont, WV 26554 or Heart of Georgia Hospice at 103 Westridge Dr. Warner Robins, GA 31088.
Friends and family may visit Ford Funeral Home, 201 Columbia St., Fairmont on Thursday, September 19, 2019 from 2PM until 4PM and 6PM until 8PM, as well as Friday, September 20, 2019 from 10AM until 11AM. The funeral will be held in the funeral home on Friday at 11AM with Mr. Jeff Conaway officiating. Interment will follow at Beverly Hills Memorial Gardens in Morgantown, WV. Online condolences may be made to www.fordfuneralhomes.com.
