Valerie Jo Voyles Phillips perished in a house fire on Sunday, April 6, 2014 that also claimed the lives of her husband, Darrell Phillips and daughter, Emily Phillips, along with the well-loved four-legged family members Coaster the Cat and Daisy the Dog.
Before she was employed by Clayton County Mental Health, then Delta Airlines, then SunTrust Bank, Valerie was a member of the 1971 Fayette County High School graduating class and graduated from Georgia State University. Classmates and co-workers alike will long remember Valerie for her salt-of-the-earth goodness, her quick wit, and her keen intelligence – all of which is readily apparent in her Facebook post of 5/11/13: “A lady came up to me in Ingles and said, ‘Hi! Didn’t I see you at the Vegetarian Club?’ “I was confused, because I never met herbivore.”
“If I live to be a hundred,” says high school classmate Robert Reeves, “I’ll never think of Valerie without seeing her beautiful face covered in her beautiful smile.”
Delta co-worker Dennis Eiland was trained by Valerie. “It only took about one day to know Val’s goodness, he says. “She was simply a good person.”
Valerie is preceded in death by her daddy, Charles (Charlie) Voyles. She is survived by her mother, Helen Buffington Voyles; her son, Daniel (Alexis) Phillips and their two children; her brother Larry (and his fiancée, Becky McQueen) Voyles; her niece, Bethany; her nephew, Ben; and a host of other loving relatives and friends.
A Celebration of Life service will be held for Valerie, Darrell, and Emily on Saturday, April 19, 2014 at 3 p.m. in the Worship Center at Fayetteville First Baptist Church. Interment will take place at a later date. The family will receive friends at the church from 2 to 3 p.m. before the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made in Valerie’s name to the Annie Armstrong Mission Fund at Fayetteville First Baptist Church, 205 Stonewall Avenue East, Fayetteville, Ga. 30214.
Carl J. Mowell & Son Funeral Home, Fayetteville – www.mowellfuneralhome.com
