Our Heavenly Father called our precious husband, father, grandfather, brother, and uncle home to be with Him on Saturday, July 30, after a brief hospital stay for heart failure.

Alton was born in Vicksburg on April 2, 1943.  He was a wonderful son to Ary Caldwell and Bess Shepard Phillips.

He had an idyllic childhood having many adventures with friend Frank Pajerski around the town he adored.

Alton graduated from H. V. Cooper High School in Vicksburg and received his bachelor of business administration in accounting from the University of Mississippi in 1965. He earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., in 1968.

While at Washington and Lee, he was a member of the Law Review.

Alton served as law clerk to the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia during law school.

He was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1968.

He served in O’Fallon, Ill., and Korea as a captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, U.S. Air Force.  Alton was a member of the American Bar Association, the Mississippi Bar Association, and the Mississippi Manufacturers Association.

He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Economic Council and the president of the Board of Directors of Young Life of Jackson.

He has also served on the Board of Directors of the North Jackson YMCA and as a member of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, the downtown Jackson Rotary Club, and the Mississippi Industrial Development Council.

Alton met his precious wife, Cathy Hood Phillips, in high school, cutting a rug on the dance floor at many a school function. They fell in love when he invited her to come to Ole Miss for the 1964 Sigma Nu Spring Formal.

They married on June 26, 1965, and just celebrated their 51st anniversary.

After serving in the Air Force, Alton moved his then family of four to Jackson. He was a partner at Watkins, Ludlam, Winter, and Stennis for 16 years.

He enjoyed teaching business law at Millsaps for two years.

After leaving the firm, Alton took on a new venture of real estate law, studying relentlessly to learn all that he needed to own his own successful firm for 14 years.

Alton was passionate about his grandchildren, taking them on many vacations out west hiking the mountains, playing in streams, climbing rocks and day trips on the back roads of Mississippi exploring creeks, waterfalls, and chasing trains.

God instilled in Alton a love for working with children and young people to share with them the love of Christ.

He especially enjoyed his work with the Royal Ambassadors at First Baptist Church in Madison by hosting their annual campout in his backyard, and, by greeting them every Sunday with a strong, manly handshake.

He also taught Sunday School for couples for over 40 years.

God also gave him an open heart for all people who crossed his path, often praying for them on the spot.

One of his final statements to his nurse was, “Those gates will be open wide and I will run right through them.”

During his time in Oxford, Alton fell in love with Ole Miss sports, traveling to attend Ole Miss games in 12 of 14 SEC stadiums.

Since 1961, he attended at least one Ole Miss game every year.  He loved tailgating in the Grove and instilled that love in his children and grandchildren.

Alton is survived by his wife Cathy, and his four children, Allison and Charlie King and their children, Phillips, Mason and Allie; Ashley and Stephen Payne and their children, Caroline, Thomas and Annabel, Whitney and Ryan Irving and their children Nelson and Shep; his son, Cary Alton Phillips II;  his brother Gerald Caldwell Phillips, sister-in-law Mary Ann Hood, six nieces and nephews, and eight great nieces and nephews.

Alton was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Ary Caldwell Phillips Jr., his brothers-in-law, Howard Allison Hood and Orley Mason Hood.

Visitation will be Thursday, Aug.t 4, from 5 to 7 p.m., and Friday, Aug. 5, from 10 to 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Madison, with the funeral to follow Friday at 11.  Burial will be Saturday, Aug. 6, at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Vicksburg.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to: Madison County Young Life, P.O. Box 3027, Madison, MS, 39130 or Baptist Children’s Village, 114 Marketridge Drive, Ridgeland, MS, 39157.