FREEPORT — Humble about receiving accolades, Marjorie Phillips lights up when she speaks about past students she and her late husband, Dr. Spencer Phillips, were able to help with a scholarship fund through Highland Community College.
“Giving is a part of living,” Phillips, 94, said in a news release from the college.
Phillips serves on the college’s foundation board and awards two scholarships a year to top students.
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Phillips will receive the Delbert Scheider Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Legacy Gala, hosted by the Highland Community College Foundation on October 2.
“I think Highland is the most important thing Freeport has going for it,” Phillips said. “Freeport has slid over the years. Highland hasn’t. The college continues to thrive and offers our students so much. What a gem we have in this college.”
The Phillips moved to Freeport in 1948. Spencer Phillips soon set up his medical practice.
Marjorie Phillips said she and her husband chose Freeport as their hometown because of its small town appeal and proximity to larger cities.
They raised their daughter, Julia, and son, Spencer Frederick, in Freeport.
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Spencer and Marjorie Phillips were known throughout Freeport for their philanthropy and love of music. When Spencer died in 2002, Marjorie remained active in her adopted community.
”Marjorie believes in our young people and the arts. She wants to make this community a better place for others,” said Chris Urish, who serves with Phillips on the collge’s foundation board. “She has more energy than anyone else I know at her age.”
Phillips said serving on the foundation board is her way of giving back and staying current on what is going on at the college. She regularly attends Fine Arts events.
“I don’t like it when people say nothing is going on in Freeport,” she said. “We have so much in our back yard.”
The foundation’s Legacy Gala is a fundraising event. Tickets are $125 per person.