Funeral Services for Catherine, 90, of Jefferson will be 10:30 am Saturday, January 3, 2009 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jefferson. Interment will be in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Jefferson. Visitation will be after 1:00 pm Friday, January 2, 2009 at Slininger-Rossow Funeral Home in Jefferson with the family present to greet friends from 7 pm to 8 pm.

Catherine is survived by her son Phil Phillips of Carroll, Iowa and her daughter Ann Phillips of Overland Park, Kansas.

Catherine Kearney Phillips, daughter of James and Matilda Kearney, was born on September 7, 1918, in Onawa, Iowa.  She had an older brother, James.  Upon the death of her father when she was two months old, her mother moved the family to Jefferson.  She attended grade school and high school in Jefferson, graduating in 1936.
           
Catherine married Ernie Phillips in 1940 in St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.  Catherine and Ernie had three children, Kathleen, born in 1945, Ann, born in 1947 and Phil, born in 1948.  They raised their children in Jefferson. Catherine moved to the Carroll Health Center in 1996.
           
Catherine was devoted to the care of her husband and children.  When her children were in school, she worked for the Credit Bureau and later Bornedaro’s Market as a bookkeeper.  Both her daughter, Kathleen, and her son's first wife, Diane, died when their children were young.  Catherine consequently played an important role in raising her four grandchildren.
           
Catherine was preceded in death by her parents, brother, James, and his wife Martha, her oldest daughter in 1975 and her husband in 1982.
           
Catherine is survived by her two children: son Phil and his wife Michele of Carroll; daughter Ann of Overland Park, Kansas; two grandsons: Doug Donnelly and wife Deanne of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Kevin Donnelly and wife Maria of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; two granddaughters: Allison Wood of Carroll; Emily Thams and husband Todd of Dennison; and eight great-grandchildren.