Brantley Phillips Funeral Home

SpoorSEYMOUR, INDIANAKenneth E. Spoor, 80, of Seymour, passed away on Sunday, August 27 at his home. He was born August 19, 1937 in Whiting, IN to Elmer and Annis Tuttle Spoor.On September 2, 1957, he married Martha Hoheimer in Fordsville, KY. He graduated from Kentucky School of Mortuary science in 1957 in Louisville and worked at Phillips Funeral Home and O.D. White and Sons Funeral Home before moving to Seymour in 1959 to work at Voss & Sons, Inc. He purchased Voss & Sons in 1967 and was the CEO there until 1999. He then began a full time construction company called Heritage Development which later transformed into Heritage Real Estate and built over 300 homes, several apartment complexes, and multiple new subdivisions. He owned two laundromats and the Brave Owl Skating Rink and Teen Center, and he started Quality Vault Company.“Poppy” was known for his generous nature and ready smile. He loved gathering family for burgers, chili, biscuits and gravy, or anything that brought everyone together. Always quick witted and ready with a joke, Poppy loved meeting his friends for breakfast or mid-morning coffee at Bevers Deli. He enjoyed fishing trips, Cincinnati Reds games, and working with his hands. Always able to come up with a solution to any problem, Poppy’s loving and generous nature was felt by countless people in the community.As a member of Seymour Jaycees he was the 1963 Jaycee Man of the Year, he was a Rotarian, 1963 President of the Redding School PTA, 1972 Boss of the Year, as well as a past member of Seymour Elks, Seymour Country Club, Chamber of Commerce board member, and president of the Sunshine School. Ken was a member of First Baptist Church and a former deacon and former chairman of the Board of Trustees. He was also former president of the Indiana Funeral Directors Association and was a member of National Selected Morticians. He also was on the board of Fidelity Federal Savings and Loan.He was preceded in death by his parents.He is survived by his daughters, Cindi (Brad) Lucas, Connie (Mark) Adams, 7 granddaughters, Becky (Brent) Sche... (Seymour Tribune)

Phillips, the longtime owner/partner of Brantley-Phillips Funeral Home in Hernando, has died at the age of 90.The dapper, always immaculately-attired Phillips was a fixture in the local community, often burying the indigent free-of-charge and overseeing the relocation of more than 50 graves from the former DeSoto County Children's Home to Goodrum Cemetery when a new subdivision threatened to obscure the small unmarked cemetery.The funeral home opened as Brantley Funeral Home in 1953. The Phillips family purchased the funeral home from Bridgforth Tarver and Martha Frances Tarver in 1982. By the early 1990s, the funeral home became known as Brantley-Phillips Funeral Home."People have asked me how many people my daddy buried over the years?" said Danny Phillips, who regaled visitors to the family-owned funeral home Monday with stories about his father's career and World War II service.The younger Phillips paid tribute to his father's dedication and hard work ethic."Daddy thought you ought to be at work before daylight and you didn't quit until well after dark," Danny Phillips said.One of the more colorful stories that the younger Phillips recalled about his father was of the time during World War II when John Phillips and his bomber crew were shot down during a mission to Berlin, Germany.The B-17 bomber plane crash landed in a sugar beet field in rural Poland. Angry villagers confronted Phillips and crew with pitchforks. Russian soldiers, who were allies of the U.S. at that time, intervened.However, the American airmen were "detained" in Russia for more than six months, spending most of that time on a train."Daddy said it always looked like the train in Dr. Zhivago with the pot-bellied stove in it to keep people warm," Danny Phillips said.John Phillips, a tailgunner in the U.S. Army Air Corps, flew a total of 13 missions during World War II."He was like a grandaddy to me," said longtime DeSoto County Coroner Jeff Pounders. "I worked with him for 33 years. He helped a lot of families who couldn't afford to bury their loved ones. He was one of the hardest-working... (DeSoto Times-Tribune)