Phillip Lynn Tillman

With heavy hearts his family shares that Phillip Lynn Tillman stepped into eternity on Saturday, December 14, 2024, at the age of 92. At his passing he was resting comfortably at Twin Lakes Community in Burlington, North Carolina, following a brief battle with leukemia. Born in Tillatoba, Mississippi, on July 27, 1932, Phillip spent over 71 years serving God and his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. During his remarkable life, Phillip touched the lives of countless people to whom he ministered.

 As the sixth of seven children born to Keith Black Tillman and Viva Byrd Harris, Phillip was raised in the small farming community of Tillatoba in the hill country of north Mississippi. As a teenager he felt the call of God to enter the ministry and spent the remainder of his life in service to the Lord. 

 Upon graduating from Oakland High School in 1950, Phillip attended Clarke Memorial College and then graduated from Mississippi College in 1956 with a degree in sociology. As was the pattern throughout his life, Phillip made long-lasting relationships and was still in touch with his few remaining high school classmates just in the past months. 

After college Phillip entered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Besides preparing him for ministry to which he would dedicate his life, the seminary played a role in introducing him to the young woman who would become his beloved wife for over 60 years. In 1957, Phillip’s second year in seminary, he met Carolyn Evedna Killian from Statesville, N.C. They were married on April 8, 1961, and began their married life together as he became pastor of Cobb Memorial Baptist Church in Rockingham, N.C. Together they served the congregation for eight years during which time they became parents to four children. On a recent Sunday evening Phillip was passing through Rockingham with some friends from Twin Lakes and stopped by the church to discover choir practice underway. Within a couple minutes, practice stopped as several members of the choir recognized their pastor from 60 years ago with one recounting he had baptized her as a young girl.

In 1969 Phillip continued a family tradition of military service. He was commissioned as an Air Force chaplain and served for 10 years while stationed at bases in Indiana, Alaska, Alabama, and West Germany. Upon leaving active duty, he became chaplain for the N.C. Air National Guard in Charlotte where he served faithfully for 11 years until he retired as a colonel in 1990. His abiding patriotism and respect for the military led him to conduct a number of programs saluting military personnel and first responders in later years. 

Shortly after leaving the Air Force, Phillip accepted a call to become pastor to the Mt. Zion Baptist Church congregation in Alexis, N.C., where he again ministered with his dear wife Carolyn for the next 12 years. His ministry there ran deep into the community, and he continued the close friendships with many church members right up until his death.

Phillip retired from full-time church pastoring in 1993 and moved to his wife’s hometown of Statesville where he and Carolyn spent 19 years living in the home they built. He was involved with First Baptist Church Statesville while also continuing to perform weddings and funerals and occasionally preaching. In addition, Phillip served as a hospice chaplain in Iredell County for 12 years beginning in 1995.

As Phillip and Carolyn continued to age, they made a move to a continuing care retirement community, Twin Lakes, in Burlington. Phillip became actively involved in the community and spent a considerable amount of time on a new hobby - playing cornhole. He became so dedicated to the game, he eventually ran the cornhole club and began competing and winning medals at the local, county, state, and even national level. In July 2023 he competed at the National Senior Games in Pittsburgh where he won two gold medals and a ribbon. As recently as October, after finishing the seventh and final day of his first round of chemotherapy treatment, he played in the N.C. Senior Games Finals and won a silver medal in his age group. In perhaps his last formal act of ministry, over the summer Phillip established a cornhole group for members of his local church, First Baptist Burlington. 

Recently, Phillip wrote a biographical book to share some of his life stories and highlight his relationship with the military men and women who ensure our freedom. After over three years of work, I Wanna Go Home was self-published in May 2023 as another form of ministry. It was dedicated to his dear wife Carolyn who died in May 2021 and his older brother Harvey whose B-24 was shot down over France in December 1943. After it was published, he enjoyed signing events and speaking engagements into mid-2024. 

Having enjoyed outstanding health and being very active all the way through his 92nd birthday in July 2024, Phillip experienced some unusual tiredness the following month and in September was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He entered a clinical trial treatment at UNC’s cancer hospital and was able to enjoy an additional couple of months of quality life. Most recently he celebrated Thanksgiving with nearly 30 family members where he was able to visit with his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Thereafter, his health declined precipitously, and he spent his final few days on earth in the healthcare facility at Twin Lakes. He was attended to by family throughout his fight, and he benefitted from the outpouring of love, support, prayer, and encouragement from his legion of friends. God called Phillip home just before 5 p.m. on Saturday, December 14. 

In addition to his parents, Phillip was preceded in death by brothers, Harvey Keith Tillman, Version Harris (Buddy) Tillman, John Beldon Tillman, and sisters, Ann Virginia Sturdivant, Ina Clair Tillman, and Laura Tillman.

 Other family members who loved him dearly and will miss him greatly until they meet again in God’s Heaven are his daughters: Tamara Rouse (Shannon) and Kelli Kupiec (Joe); sons: Danny Tillman (Jana) and Kevin Tillman (Kellie, fiancée); grandchildren: Megan, Chandler, Jordan, Sarah, Griffin, Matthew, Carson, Hartley, Ryan, and Zachary; great-grandchildren: Joseph, Phillip, Noah, and Nayeli; his dear friend Retta; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and their families.

 The family wishes to sincerely thank the extraordinary staff and compassionate caregivers at Twin Lakes Coble Creek, AuthoraCare Hospice, Adoration Home Health, Twin Lakes Home Care Agency, and the entire staff at Twin Lakes all located in Burlington. They also wish to thank Phillip’s wonderful care team at UNC led by Dr. Joshua Zeidner, with his right-hand assistants Angela, Jackie, Miya, and Robyn; and the entire oncology staff that took such loving care of Phillip, especially Nurse Wendy, all located in Chapel Hill. 

 In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to AuthoraCare (Hospice) Collective in Burlington at www.authoracare.org or Tunnel to Towers Foundation at T2T.org. Donations may also be made to the church or charity of your choice. 

A service celebrating Phillip’s life will be held Saturday, January 18, 2025, at 1 p.m. at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Alexis with the family receiving friends after the service. Burial will follow on Sunday, January 19, at 1 p.m. at Oakwood Cemetery in Statesville. The family will host a memorial reception at Twin Lakes Community in Burlington at a later date.

Please share memories and condolences with the family at www.nicholsonfunerals.com. The service will be live streamed from a link on the Mt. Zion Baptist Church website at www.mtzionalexis.org/livestream.

Nicholson Funeral Home is honored to serve the Tillman family.