Lou Etta Phillips Duncan

Lou Etta Phillips Duncan, of Knoxville, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, neighbor and friend, died quietly at home on Sunday, April 30, 2017, attended by her husband of 70 years, Joe D. Duncan, and her faithful feline Sox. Lou was 92 and had fought cancer for 35 years. She is survived by her husband, retired state Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joe D. Duncan, of Knoxville; their son, Philip David Duncan; daughter-in-law, Leslie Ann Duncan; grandchildren Meredyth Phillips Duncan and Tyler Witte Duncan, all of Falls Church, Va.; special nephew Jason Mitchell Phillips, of Knoxville; and a host of other nieces, nephews and cousins in the Phillips and Duncan families. Lou was born Feb. 18, 1925 in the Scott County, Tenn., town of New River; she was the youngest of seven children of Mitchell and Susie Huskins Phillips. During her youth, the family lived some of the time in New River, where Mitchell was railroad tower master, and some of the time in Huntsville, where the Phillipses had a farm neighboring the Duncan family farm. Lou survived diphtheria as a child and graduated in 1943 from Huntsville High School, where she was secretary of her senior class. She moved to Miami, where she worked with her older sister Lucille in the U.S. Office of Censorship, established during World War II to prevent sensitive military information from falling into enemy hands. In 1945, Lou returned to Scott County and reconnected with her childhood friend Joe, who was an Army Air Corps navigator and after the war resumed studies at the University of Tennessee. Lou and Joe were married on June 22, 1946, in New River. Their union fulfilled a pledge contained in a Valentine’s Day card that Joe gave to Lou around 1930, when he was six, and she five. The card said: I swear by all the stars above, You are the only one I love Some day I will ask you to be mine, In the meantime — Let’s be Valentines As Joe completed his undergraduate and law degrees at UT and began practicing law in Knoxville, Lou worked at the Woolworth’s department store on Gay St., running the jewelry counter. The couple lived in New Jersey in the early 1950s, when Joe served in the FBI, then they settled for good in Knoxville. Lou and Joe took in her nephew Raymond Phillips and raised him as a son through high school. They lost two children at birth before their son Philip was born in 1957. In 1962, they moved to the new West Knoxville subdivision of Suburban Hills. Lou became the first secretary of the community’s homeowners’ association, and the family joined Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church. Over the next 50 years, Lou made her mark as a giver: She was a stalwart booster of the pursuits of her husband, son, grandchildren, and extended family, attending countless school programs and athletic contests, weddings, reunions, birthday parties and other family and civic functions, even as she battled cancer from 1982 on. In her home she cared for both her mother Susie and her sister Helen as their health declined. She lovingly nurtured a long, long line of cherished cats; any feline lucky enough to be adopted by Lou got a taste of Heaven on Earth. For family, she fought through pain. In 2014 she bounced back from January surgery for a broken shoulder to attend the February party for Joe’s 90th birthday. After attending her 90th birthday party in 2015, the next day she went in for another round of cancer surgery. She traveled to landmark family occasions until just last year: to Washington, D.C., in 2011 for Tyler’s high school graduation, to Philadelphia in 2012 for Meredyth’s college graduation, to Philip’s 2012 swearing-in to the Falls Church City Council, and to the Duncan Family reunion, last July in Gatlinburg. After beginning at-home hospice care in late winter, Lou enjoyed her favorite cold-weather pastime of sitting by the fire. In April, Meredyth, visiting Knoxville, took over Lou’s annual spring ritual of flower-planting, pleasing grandma with photos of the porches and patio abloom. And Tyler, up from Tallahassee for a surprise Easter visit, shared the happy news that in May he would receive a master’s degree from Florida State University, bringing a smile to grandma’s face. In her final month, Lou was lifted up by visits, calls and cards from many relatives and friends. The family will receive friends on Friday, May 12, from 5:00 - 7:00 pm at Rose Mortuary Mann Heritage Chapel, 6200 Kingston Pike, with a service to follow. The interment will be Saturday, May 13, at 2:00 pm at the Duncan Family Cemetery, in Huntsville, Tenn. In lieu of flowers, the family invites contributions in memory of Lou’s love for cats and other critters to the Young-Williams Animal Center, 3201 Division St., Knoxville TN 37919. Memorial donations also are welcome to the Duncan Family Cemetery, Inc., for perpetual care of the historic family burial grounds in Scott County; or to the Duncan Educational Fund, Inc., which supports the educational needs of students in the Scott County public schools. Contributions to the Duncan charities may be sent to Judith L. Naderhoff, Treasurer, 5255 Hampton Lane, Columbus, OH 43220.

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Lou Etta Phillips Duncan

February 18, 1925 - April 30, 2017