University of Kentucky - Kentuckian Yearbook (Lexington, KY)

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Staff members honor a lady students call A Mom Away F rom Home .Alfter 44 years with college students, Mrs. Anna Phillips finally received a degree. The degree hangs inconspicuously near the rear of the market on South Limestone Street which is owned by 78-year-old Mrs. Phillips. It reads, This is to certify that Mrs. Anna Phillips is awarded an honorary degree of humanities for reliev- ing hunger pains and campus headaches above and beyond the call of duty. It is signed by members of the department of family studies. The certificate means just as much as an official University degree to the gray- haired woman who is affectionately refer- red to as mom by her regular customers. I had a good cry over that, said Mrs. Phillips, who opened her first grocery store in 1937. My whole life is here tak- ing care of the students. I try to make them feel like this is home. I cash their checks, and if they run out of money, I see that they don't go hungry. Eight hours a day, six days a week, Mrs. Phillips sells soups, salads and sandwiches, as well as other grocery items, to hundreds of customers from the University community. Many of the regulars choose Phillips' Market over neighbor- ing fast-food franchises for the low prices alone—prices range in price from 15-75 cents. According to Jo Anna Bush, staff assistant in the depart- ment of family studies, the entire department decided that Mrs. Phillips deserved the degree. Popcorn, the latest addition to an expanded Phillips' Market, is only part of a large menu that includes country ham, sausage on a bun, and an innovative three-meat sandwich appropriately titled The Phillips' Special. —Photo by Chester Sublett So many of us walk over there for lun- ch, and we enjoy her so much, we just thought it would be nice to do something like that for her, Bush said. Don Campbell, a graduate from UK's College of Law, said Mrs. Phillips has probably fed most of the judges and politicians in Kentucky. She was just kind of like a mother to a lot of the law students, Campbell said. Her business is kind of like a ministry. Mrs. Phillips' ministry began when she opened The Corner Market in northern Lexington. She operated in three other locations before buying the stone-faced building across the street from the Com- merce Building. She has seen the campus and students change phycisally and emotionally over the years. Describing the tense years of the early '70s, Mrs. Phillips said, I was afraid to go home and afraid to stay here (at the store). During the last two or three years, though, the students have improv- ed a lot. A devout Christian, Mrs. Phillips teaches Sunday School at Grace Baptist Church during her only day off. It is through this teaching, though, that she is better able to spread her per- sonal message: sharing. When I was young, I didn't want to share, she said. But after two or three little whippings, I shared. It was a very good lesson. It taught me to share, and I've been sharing all my life. Although she gladly shares her time and cooking skills with hundreds each day, Mrs. Phillips refuses to share any plans for retirement. Retire is a word I don't even want to think about, she said. I'm planning like I'm going to live forever. —CHRIS CAMERON In a room of her South Limestone Street market, Mrs. Phillips proudly displays the honorary degree presented her by the depart- ment of family studies. —Photo by Terry Keys 21 FEATURE Mrs.Phillips