On the recordSeptember 27, 2000
Harnett County and the town of Coats lost one of its most indefatigable education, civic, and business leaders with the death on May 16, 2000, of Murry Ormand Phillips. His lifetime resume of accomplishments could well do credit to 10 men. Born in 1913 in a Mississippi county that the U.S. Department of Commerce ranked the poorest in the entire United States, Mr. Phillips turned to education as a way out, eventually gaining entrance to Mississippi State University, where he graduated with a degree in vocational agriculture and a commission as a 2d Lieutenant in the Army Reserve. His graduation came in the midst of the Great Depression when jobs were almost nonexistent. The university placement center offered one opportunity--a teaching job in far off Coats, NC. Mr. Phillips set off for North Carolina and a lifelong love affair with his adopted state.
Source
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