Marjorie Weeks Phillips

Marjorie Weeks Phillips died on May 1, 2023, at 94. She passed away peacefully in her Bossier City home of 46 years in the presence of her doting husband and caregiver, Ray, and her daughters, Vickie and Pam. Marjorie was born on August 3, 1928, in Texarkana, Arkansas. The first daughter of Hildrey and “Kay” Weeks, Marjorie and her younger sister Norma “Jean” Weeks Brown were primarily raised by their maternal grandparents, Daniel and Ada McKenzie, in southwest Arkansas.

Marjorie married the love of her life, Ray, on April 2, 1949. They recently celebrated their seventy-fourth wedding anniversary. After completing training at Schumpert Memorial Hospital in 1948, she worked as a Registered X-Ray technician for over 40 years. She enjoyed playing golf for many years and cherished the friendships formed by hitting the “little white ball.” Marjorie was an avid bridge player and used her “secret stash” of winnings to buy treats for her grandchildren. “Nanny,” as she was affectionately called by her grandkids, delighted in the obscure. She had a collection of watermelon-shaped knick-knacks and cared for a resident houseplant named “Beth.”

Marjorie brought this joie de vivre into her second career as a grandmother and great-grandmother. She and Ray crisscrossed the South visiting family in their Lincoln Town Car well into their eighties. When she wasn’t traveling, she was entertaining friends, fielding calls from family, and playing a game with “good ole Saul,” her playful nickname for the game of solitaire.

Nanny embodied love: “Strength and honor are her clothing; she is confident about the future. With God enveloping us in love and strength, we have absolutely no reason to fear for the future or life after death.” Proverbs 31:25

Marjorie is survived by her husband, Marion Ray Phillips; her two daughters, Vickie Phillips Pernici (Sam) and Pamela Phillips Couvillion (Sam); her six grandsons, Sam Crawford Pernici, Jr. (Kristin), Michael Phillips Pernici (Margaret), Matthew Warren Couvillion (Ryan), Mason Daniel Couvillion (Lindsay), James Edward Couvillion (fiancé Seth) and William Hayden Couvillion (Laura Paige); and twelve great-grandchildren.

Honoring Marjorie as pallbearers will be her six grandsons.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a celebration of Marjorie’s life of devotion, loyalty, and care, at St. George’s Episcopal Church on May 8, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m., with the service following. A reception will be held in the Parish Hall for family and friends following the service. A private family interment will follow at Forest Park Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, friends and family are encouraged to donate to St. George’s Episcopal Church, 1959 Airline Drive, Bossier City, LA 71112: https://www.stgeorgesbossier.org and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105: www.stjude.org.