AE6QU

Ronald L. Phillips (AE6QU)

Ronald L. Phillips

Born July 1, 1942, Died February 15, 2022

Ronald was born on July 1, 1942 in Washington, Indiana. His family moved to Martinsville in 1954, and he and graduated from Martinsville High School in 1960. (His mother, Hazel Phillips was a teacher at Martinsville High School until her retirement in 1974.) After a semester at Purdue University, Ron joined the US Army, serving from 1961 to 1964 working in Communications Security. In 1965 he married Kathleen Phillips, and moved to South Bend, Indiana.

In 1969 the couple moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Ron continued his education, graduating from ASU in 1974. For a short time he was a member of the IBEW working with low voltage equipment, Later he formed his own companies working with various aspects of communications equipment, such as selling and installing telephone systems, satellite/TV, and pay phones. He formed the Sunset Telcom, Inc, in 1984 which he maintained until his death.

Ron’s love of Amateur Radio started in High School when he received his Ham Radio license. This license was kept current throughout his life. He was active in the Northwest Valley Amateur Radio Club where he served as president for a few years. Ron’s other passion included ballroom dancing. He was a member of several Dance clubs in Sun City. He was also a member of the Sun City Elks, and the Martinsville Masonic Lodge.

He was predeceased by his parents, Carl and Hazel Phillips in 1994 and 2002 respectively. Both had retired to Sun City in 1974. Ron is survived by a brother Ben Phillips in Nashville, IN, and a sister, Patricia Arvin in Sun City. Although divorced, he is also survived by a previous wife of almost 40 years, Kathleen Phillips. and her daughter Susan Baldwin, both of Sun City.