Michael Phillips, passed away October 31, 2023.
Please use this link to watch a live stream of Michael’s celebration of life.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82255894827?pwd=IunDQRjaWeQFyiBe71bkTaaYbZyaXV.1
A celebration of life will be Saturday, November 11, 2023, at the ARN Funeral Home, 11411 N. Michigan Road, Zionsville, Indiana 46077, starting at 4:00pm with a visitation from 2:00pm until time of the service.
Michael “Mike” Christopher Phillips, 54, was born in Tacoma, Washington, on the 11th of September 1969 while his father was deployed in Vietnam. The family was reunited months later, and Michael made his first of countless trips to Germany. By age 3 he could identify helicopters by sound.
The Phillips family moved on to North Carolina, Michigan, New Jersey, and finally Spartanburg, South Carolina, where Michael attended Dorman High School (old location), and then the University of South Carolina at the Upstate and Columbia campuses. At Upstate he met the love of his life Christine Christensen at a work study job. He graduated as a mechanical engineer, a fitting degree for a lifelong car lover. In college he participated in the Baja Project, creating cars from scratch. He continued his studies with the Masters of International Business (program including a semester of study in Germany, reuniting with family there). Over the years he visited Germany for work, study, leisure, and family visits.
After marrying Christine in Maryland, the two shared 29 loving years together. They studied and worked together in Orangeburg and Charleston, South Carolina, and bought their first home in Raleigh, North Carolina. They both took jobs at Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, Indiana, took a 2-year excursion to work at Amgen in California, and then landed back in Indiana. Throughout his career, he worked on medical devices for diabetes care and cutting-edge insulin injection pens, products that resonated with his family. Michael and Christine enjoyed worldwide travel, with the Caribban, the Baltics, Russia, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia as favorite destinations. Both avid cat lovers, Michael and Christine provided a loving home for Spike, Fox & Scully, Neelix, and Dax & Sisko. Their shared love of sci-fi is reflected in their pets’ names. Michael pursued his love of cars, joining the Audi TT Owners Club for multiple activities, designing and manufacturing aftermarket car parts, and most recently became a Jaguar F-type owner. Michael is survived by his loving wife Dr. Christine Phillips, his parents Jack and Ruthild Phillips of Spartanburg, three sisters Anette Ahrens, Tine Phillips, and Katrina Phillips, brother-in-law Patrick Ahrens, nephew Brendan Ahrens, and niece Elise Patel Ahrens. On November 11, 2023, a visitation will begin at 2pm followed by a celebration of life at 4pm, at ARN Mortuary in Zionsville, Indiana. Additional information and a link to the livestream can be found at www.albertsonsmortuary.com/michael-phillips. In lieu of flowers, please donate in memoriam to the National Alliance on Mental Illness at NAMI.org.