BIOGRAPHY

Phillips was born on the family farm east of Loyal, Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, USA, on 7 October 1909, to parents John H. Kruse (1860–1950) and Katie A. Ittner (1881–1978). Her father was born in Hamburg, Germany, and her mother was from Nebraska, the daughter of Austrian emigrants. She had one older brother, Louie (1901–1962). She attended one-room schoolhouse in Excelsior, one-half mile east of her farm, where she graduated from the eighth grade.

In 1935, she married Ralph A. Phillips (1897–1966). They ran a dairy farm southwest of Hennessey for many years. The couple had one daughter, Shirley. She filled in as a cook at a local school when needed, and later cooked at the First Shamrock Nursing Home in Kingfisher until her retirement.

Phillips passed away in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, USA, on 16 December 2020, at the age of 111. She was survived by three grandchildren and two step-grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.

RECOGNITION

At the time of her death, she was the second-oldest known person living in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, after Ethel Bowens.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Christine Bertha Kruse Phillips” – FindAGrave

* “Oral history interview with Christine Phillips” – OOHRP, 13 October 2014

* “Christine Phillips” – Kingfisher Times & Free Press, 20 December 2020

GALLERY