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Mr. Phillips flexes a fan he made out of palm tree fronds while in the Pacific.
Orland Phillips smiles next to a birthday poster made by students at Indian Valley Elementary School, who also made him handmade cards for his 103rd birthday.
Birthday cards that were read by Feb. 4.
Birthday cards Mr. Phillips hasn’t got to yet are kept in another room.
Mr. Phillips made the knife in his hands, and the handle is made of plexiglass from a downed enemy plane.
One of the three welding trucks Mr. Phillips owned after moving to Floyd County. He said this photo was taken in 1955 or 1956.
In the Pacific, a native made this solid club specifically for Mr. Phillips.
Mr. Phillips received 176 cards on the day before his 103rd birthday.
Mr. Phillips still practices still sharp-shooting skills.
‘I used to be a pretty good shot,’ he said.
Mr. Phillips keeps busy with a number of projects and hobbies at 103 years old.
Mr. Phillips keeps busy with a number of projects and hobbies at 103 years old.
Mr. Phillips keeps busy with a number of projects and hobbies at 103 years old.
Mr. Phillips keeps busy with a number of projects and hobbies at 103 years old.
More than 1,500 birthday cards from nearly every U.S. state have found their way to Willis to help Orland Phillips celebrate his 103rd birthday today (Saturday, Feb. 5). He said yesterday he is “tickled all over” with the outpouring of love from across the country.
With his own car, motorcycle and a girlfriend, Mr. Phillips said he “was really on his way” in April 1941 when he was drafted into World War II.
Raised in Jackson County, West Va., Mr. Phillips said having three brothers made life “exciting,” and vividly remembers details about growing up during the Great Depression.
Some of the family’s income came from skins and hides, and Mr. Phillips said, he remembers his dad getting 10 cents per pelt, at one point.
All of the Phillips boys served in the Army during WWII, with three in the Pacific and one in Europe. Three of them made it home.
Mr. Phillips laughed, remembering, his brother in Europe never was much bothered by the cold, where as he freezes, himself. The tropical climate of the Pacific suited him just fine, he said.
His first stop was in the Fiji Islands, where his company stayed for about a week — “just long enough to pick up on some of the natives’ language” — before moving on to New Caledonia and Guadalcanal, where they stayed for about a year.
“I enjoyed being onboard the ship,” Mr. Phillips said. “You just sat around and enjoyed the sun on the old, hot ship deck… I got to where I could climb a coconut tree as fast as the natives.”
He said, from camp, you could see the tall mountains in the distance, with fog rising off the river. Those mountains made him think of home only once — “all day, every day.”
As machinists, Mr. Phillips explained, his company repaired any damaged, jammed or improper equipment, from firearms to glasses and wrist watches.
“And, if we needed something we didn’t have, we made it,” he noted.
Mr. Phillips learned to develop photos after joining a camera club in south Charleston as a teenager, and took “probably a few thousand pictures” while he was deployed. “About 98% of them” have been ruined by moisture throughout the years, but there are several preserved in various photo albums.
After the war, Mr. Phillips moved to Floyd County, where his parents were living, and “ended up falling in love with Leona Marshall from Indian Valley.”
“I couldn’t just take her and leave,” he chuckled. “I’ve been here ever since…”
They were married for 66 years before Leona died in 2013, and have four daughters. He chuckled at the irony that his dad had four sons, while he has four daughters.
The majority of Mr. Phillips’ career involved welding; he made farm trailers and worked as an independent welder. He was eventually certified for welding steel and an unlimited thickness.
“The steel was three inches thick on some of those bridge girders,” Mr. Phillips recalled. “It would take about nine hours to weld one side of it.”
He said the highest he worked was “maybe about 100 feet or so.”
Two of the last projects he hand a hand in, Mr. Phillips said, was welding on Interstate 95 around Richmond, and on the Claytor Lake bridge.
When he wasn’t traveling for work, Mr. Phillips built hose reels and hosing cable reels in the shop behind his and Lenoa’s house. The shop opened in 1973, and the two worked there together, with another man, until Mr. Phillips “retired” and made it into a woodshop.
“All I’ve ever done is work with my hands,” he said, flipping through photos of old projects, including a rocking chair and an assortment of jewelry boxes.
Michelle Quesinberry, a caregiver who stays with Mr. Phillips said, from her perspective, his family has been Mr. Phillips’ secret to reaching 103 years old.
“He has a family like I’ve never seen. They’ve just recently sought outside help — they’ve been taking turns staying with him day and night since 2014 — them and their spouses,” she said. “Then, he has the support of nieces and nephews, and grandchildren. And, they all respect him so much. All of them say, ‘he’s the boss’, and he is.”
Mr. Phillips laughed, then thought long and hard before speaking again.
“Be honest with yourself and with everybody else,” he said. “And, if you’re gonna do anything, do it right.”
His daughter Mary Hodge said he used to tell people, when asked how he got to be 100, he “just keeps breathing.”
Indian Valley Elementary students made Mr. Phillips a poster for his birthday, and handmade cards from IVES and Willis Elementary have been particularly special to him.
“I enjoy them — you get some good ones,” he said, adding he intends to respond to some of them, “especially some from the kids.”
Mr. Phillips stays busy and keeps everyone on their toes. In the spring, he put a .22 bullet through the center of a bottle cap, and he regularly photographs the birds around his house, sometimes from inside with the help of a remote shutter. He still works with his hands as much as he can.
His daughters gave a special thanks to the Willis Post Office and Eudale Higgs, the mail carrier who has delivered Mr. Phillips' cards. They said they "so appreciate said they "so appreciate" every person who sent a card to celebrate their dad.
The past week, Mr. Phillips has spent about four hours each evening reading cards. He received 176 on Friday, Feb. 4, bringing the total to 1,547. He said Friday they should keep him busy for a few weeks.
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Mr. Phillips flexes a fan he made out of palm tree fronds while in the Pacific.
Orland Phillips smiles next to a birthday poster made by students at Indian Valley Elementary School, who also made him handmade cards for his 103rd birthday.
Birthday cards that were read by Feb. 4.
Birthday cards Mr. Phillips hasn’t got to yet are kept in another room.
Mr. Phillips made the knife in his hands, and the handle is made of plexiglass from a downed enemy plane.
One of the three welding trucks Mr. Phillips owned after moving to Floyd County. He said this photo was taken in 1955 or 1956.
In the Pacific, a native made this solid club specifically for Mr. Phillips.
Mr. Phillips received 176 cards on the day before his 103rd birthday.
Mr. Phillips still practices still sharp-shooting skills.
‘I used to be a pretty good shot,’ he said.
Mr. Phillips keeps busy with a number of projects and hobbies at 103 years old.
Mr. Phillips keeps busy with a number of projects and hobbies at 103 years old.
Mr. Phillips keeps busy with a number of projects and hobbies at 103 years old.
Mr. Phillips keeps busy with a number of projects and hobbies at 103 years old.