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2021 SESSION

21103700D
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 333
Offered February 3, 2021
Celebrating the life of George Conoly Phillips.
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Patron-- Miyares
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WHEREAS, George Conoly Phillips, a longtime automobile dealer, leader of the business community in Hampton Roads, and beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, died on April 22, 2020; and

WHEREAS, born in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1931, Conoly Phillips spent most of his life in Hampton Roads, graduating from Maury High School in Norfolk and earning a master’s degree in business from Old Dominion University; and

WHEREAS, a loyal patriot, Conoly Phillips served his country as a member of the Unites States Air Force; and

WHEREAS, Conoly Phillips, whose career in the automobile industry spanned more than 40 years, was the owner, president and later chair of Conoly Phillips Lincoln Mercury in Virginia Beach; and

WHEREAS, Conoly Phillips was recipient of Time magazine’s Dealer of the Year award in 1995, a four-time winner of The President’s Award, Ford Motor Company’s highest dealer award, and consistently listed in Lincoln 100, a list of the top 100 Lincoln dealers in the country; and

WHEREAS, Conoly Phillips was a former president of the Tidewater Automobile Dealers Association and was a former vice president and legislative chair of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association; and

WHEREAS, an active and dedicated member of his community, Conoly Philips supported a wide array of professional groups and charitable causes for many years; and

WHEREAS, with a keen interest in supporting young people, Conoly Philips chaired several task forces that focused on youth issues, including the Mayor’s Task Force on Drugs, the Norfolk Task Force on Juvenile Incarceration and Foster Care, and the Youth Forum Task Force, and he was a co-founder and president of the Proclaim Evangelistic Association that operated a halfway house for drug-addicted youths in the 1970s; and

WHEREAS, driven by his faith, Conoly Phillips was an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Norfolk, where he taught Sunday school for 22 years and sang in the choir; and

WHEREAS, Conoly Phillips demonstrated his faith through his service to his community, including as co-founder and chair of the South Hampton Roads Leadership Prayer Breakfast, president of the Union Mission and Hope Haven Children’s Homes, and assistant to the chair of the Tidewater Billy Graham Crusade in 1974; and

WHEREAS, Conoly Phillips was a member and former chair of the board of Regent University; and

WHEREAS, Conoly Phillips ran for and was elected as a member of the Norfolk City Council, first as a city-wide member and then as the representative for Ward 1, and he served in that capacity for 20 years; and

WHEREAS, during his tenure on the Norfolk City Council, Conoly Phillips served as chair of the Finance and Infrastructure Committee and represented the City of Norfolk on the Southeastern Public Service Authority, on which he served as the authority’s chair; and

WHEREAS, Conoly Phillips served both his customers and the community with a generous spirit and was an example to other dealers in the region and around the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, Conoly Phillips will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by numerous family members and friends; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Delegates hereby note with great sadness the loss of George Conoly Phillips, a respected business leader and an active member of the Hampton Roads community; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of George Conoly Phillips as an expression of the House of Delegates’ respect for his memory.