Charles L. Phillips; Retired Walnut Processor
Charles L. Phillips, who once owned two walnut processing plants in the San Fernando Valley,has died in an Encino hospital. He was 86.
Phillips died Wednesday of cancer, said his son, Hal Phillips of Encino.
Born Dec. 25, 1903, in Chicago, Phillips came to California as a child and graduated from Los Angeles High School. In 1937 his family built M. Phillips & Sons, a Van Nuys walnut processing plant. Two years later, another plant was built in Reseda. Both plants were closed by 1956, at which time he began constructing and managing industrial property for the family company called Phillips Brothers.
Phillips was a charter member of the Encino Shrine Club, and a longtime member of the Masonic Composite Lodge in Santa Monica and Adat Ari El synagogue in North Hollywood.
Other survivors include his wife of 17 years, Magda Phillips; a daughter, Jona Willis of Encino; three sisters, Dorothy Rosen of Sherman Oaks, Lillian Lewis of Encino and Charlotte Hoffman of Encino; four grandchildren and two great-grandsons.
A memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Hillside Memorial Park, 6001 W. Centinela Ave., Los Angeles. Hillside Mortuary is handling the arrangements. Donations can be made in Phillips’ name to the American Cancer Society, San Fernando Valley unit.
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