Wilma Philips

Wilma Kuiphof Philips age 90 of Pompton Plains died at home on September 3, 2023.

Wilma was born on August 16, 1933 in Paterson, New Jersey, the daughter of Ida Caroline Heusser and William Kuiphoff.  She spent her formative years in Paterson during the Great Depression.  While her family struggled at times during the decade, Wilma’s parents insisted that she be well educated.  Although resources were scarce, her parents enrolled her at the then Eastern Academy in Prospect Park, New Jersey for her high school education.  After graduating from Eastern Academy in 1951, she continued her education in the registered nurse program at Paterson General Hospital, receiving her RN certification in 1954.  Wilma worked as an operating room nurse throughout the remainder of the 1950’s at Paterson General Hospital in Paterson, New Jersey. While living with her parents in Haledon, New Jersey, she traveled extensively during vacation time. Her ultimate voyage took place in 1956 when along with her nurse friends she drove to California and back in a 1955 Pontiac. 

In 1958 Wilma met John Philips on a vacation to the Pocono Mountains. Despite proclaiming she would never marry, they did so on April 23, 1960 and had a wonderful marriage together for forty-nine years.

She and John lived on Orchard Place in Maywood, New Jersey from 1960 to 1965. As was the custom of that time, she gave up her career as a nurse and soon gave birth to her two children:  John William in 1961 and Judy in 1962.

In 1965, John was transferred by RCA to their facility in Bridgewater, New Jersey. This meant leaving Wilma’s home environment in Northern New Jersey and moving to then rural Somerset County. Despite a difficult transition to life in the country, she soon embraced this new lifestyle. She attended the South Branch Reformed Church where she was an active member of the Women’s Guild. Wilma also reentered the workforce in 1967 when she took a part time job as a nurse at the Carrier Clinic in Belle Meade, New Jersey. When John and Judy reached their teen years, she embarked on a new career in 1971 as a beloved school nurse at Old York School in Branchburg, New Jersey.  During this time, she completed her bachelor’s degree at the then Trenton State College (now the College of New Jersey). She worked at Old York School until she retired in 1992.

After retirement, Wilma and John moved to Ormond Beach, Florida where she as an active member of the Ormond Beach Presbyterian Church. She was also an active volunteer at the Ormond Beach Memorial Hospital, serving a term as the president of the auxiliary before she and John moved to Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains in December 2007. At Cedar Crest, she was an active member of the Protestant Community, specializing in tolling the bells at memorial services. While there, she was frequently visited by her children, grandchildren, and in-laws.

Wilma was predeceased by her husband John in 2010 and her parents. Surviving are her son John Philips and his wife Sarah (Cockcroft) of Branchburg, and her daughter Judy Philips and her husband Paul Scott of Brooklyn, New York; two cherished grandchildren William and Peter Philips; her brother-in-law Peter Filipczak and his significant other Delores Shanklin Kronemer of Fair Lawn; her niece Pat Colville of Middletown, New York and nephew Pete Filipczak of Campbell Hall, New York.

Wilma will be remembered as a person who stood by her values, demanded the best from those around her, and who provided her children with the best education possible.  While she frequently disagreed with her children after they received their college and graduate degrees, she steadfastly loved and respected them.