On Tuesday evening, April 30, 2024, Carolyn Daugherty Phillips went home to meet face-to-face her Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and reunite with her beloved Bob, her parents, and many other loved ones and friends in Heaven.

Carolyn was a devoted wife, mother, Nana, and friend. She was rich in virtues like loyalty, humility, and discretion. She was funny, self-deprecating, and industrious.

Carolyn was born on September 15, 1936 to E.M. "Red" and Vera Mae Daugherty in Duncan, Oklahoma, where she grew up until Red's work took the family to New Mexico. She graduated from Hobbs NM High School, returned to Oklahoma, and attended Bethany Nazarene College while working full-time in downtown Oklahoma City 13 miles away, even though she owned no car. At college she met Robert S. Phillips, and on a cold winter night in 1959 they married at the original Oklahoma City First Church of the Nazarene near downtown.

Carolyn and Bob raised two sons, Bruce and Brian, while living and working in Oklahoma City, then later in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and finally in Lawton, Oklahoma. In the summer of '79, Bob and Carolyn bought a home on four beautiful acres west of Lawton that looked out on the Wichita Mountains. There they enjoyed a quiet country life for 38 years, until one day Bob fell ill and died shortly after.

Carolyn was a lifelong committed member of her local Church of the Nazarene, including Lake View Park Church in Oklahoma City, where she served as secretary to three pastors, and Lawton First Church, where she taught Sunday School, sang in the choir, and served on the church board.

Carolyn lived in reverence, gratitude, and awe that Jesus died for her sins. Like her saintly mother before her, Carolyn lived and modeled her Christianity by modest, consistent example, not by argument or loud volume. Although she studied her Bible and Christian literature almost daily, Carolyn's faith, she said, was simple: "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it."

Over many years, leaders in academia and the church trusted Carolyn as their right-hand assistant. Her longest employment, and last, was in the Nursing Department of Cameron University, assisting the department chair, Dr. Donna Bellovics. Together they shepherded hundreds of nursing students through a rigorous program from start to graduation. Many of them are successfully practicing today in medical facilities throughout Oklahoma and elsewhere.

On Tuesday May 7 at 11:00 a.m., at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Lawton, Rev. Paul Metcalfe will lead a brief graveside service honoring Carolyn's exemplary life. There, under the direction of Becker-Rabon Funeral Home, Carolyn will be laid to rest, by her husband's side once again.

Survivors include Carolyn's sons Brian and Bruce and daughter-in-law, Julie; four grandchildren: Rachel, Benjamin, Taylor, and Grace; and brother and sister-in-law Mitch and Ruth.

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Well done.