William G. 'Bill' Phipps, Jr.

William G. "Bill" Phipps Jr. went to be with his Lord and Savior on April 29, 2026.

Bill was born February 7, 1936, in Spokane WA to William and Ruth Phipps. He lived 90+ great years, and was blessed to live a full and independent life up until his final days. Bill graduated from North Central High School, and went to work at Washington Water Power at 19 years old. While working at WWP, Bill met the love of his life Shirley, and they had 57 great years before she passed in 2015. Bill and Shirley are survived by sons Scott, and Troy and his wife June. Bill's grandchildren were a light in his life - Jake Phipps and his wife Aimee, Mindee Phipps, Ian Phipps and his wife Nicole and their son Alex, and Liam Phipps and fiancé Karissa. Family was very important to Bill, and while he out-lived many of them including his brother Robert, he still cherished time with sisters-in-law Judy Gross and Jenny Emerson, and nieces and nephews Jerry Smith, Tom Smith, Randy Smith, Julie Roberts, Tricia Chappel, and Chrissy Erickson. Bill also leaves behind his special friend Bev Klum, who's companionship brought much joy to his life recently. Bill's family threw him a 90th birthday party earlier this year, where he was delighted to meet Alex, his great-grandson from Oregon, and he called it "the best party I ever had".

Bill was a lifelong member of North Hill Christian Church, where he attended regularly from the time he was a child. Bill retired after a nearly 40-year career at WWP, working for 30 years in the engineering department and the next 10 years as manager of the Deer Park office. After retirement, he went on to work part time for WWP/Avista for many years in right-of-way and real estate. Bill was proud of his service in the US Army Reserves, and retired after 26 years as 1st Sargent. He also worked for many years after retirement from WWP as Minister of Visitation at North Hill Christian Church.

Bill loved people and was an active volunteer in the community. He enjoyed his time as a volunteer youth group leader and chaperone for many tours with the North Hill Christian Church youth choir "Emanon". Bill volunteered with Meals on Wheels, Operation Spokane Heros, the ESGR group, and was a past chair of the Spokane Chamber's Armed Forces Services Committee and an Honorary Commander at Fairchild Air Force Base. He was a past president of the Spokane Lilac Festival Association, where he was still serving as an active director and proud to have served continuously in that role for over 50 years.

A celebration of life service will be held Saturday May 30th, 3:00pm at North Hill Christian Church in Spokane at Post and Wellesley. Memorial gifts may be made to the Spokane Lilac Festival or North Hill Christian Church.