Professor Eugene A. Philipps

Professor Eugene A. Phillips, 81, Moorhead, MN, died on Saturday, August 17, 2013, in Villa Maria Nursing Home, Fargo, ND.
Professor Philipps was born in October 1931 on the south side of Chicago to Frances Goeb and Eugene M. Philipps, the children of immigrants from France and Germany.
He attended Catholic Schools until 1951 when he went to work in the general offices of the Santa Fe Railroad after receiving a degree from the Freight Traffic Institute.
In January 1952 he entered the U.S. Army for three years, serving at Ft. Hood, Ft. Belvoir and Schwetzingen, Germany and was discharged in 1955 at Ft. Sheridan, IL, with the rank of Sergeant.
In 1955 Dr. Philipps returned to Germany and spent the year living in a small German village where on April 30, 1955 he married Brunhilda Bonnie Eitelwein. She died in 1983.
After returning to Chicago he resumed his education and subsequently earned a B.S. in international marketing, an M.S. in finance, and in 1964 a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois.
He served as a teaching assistant for three years and in 1961 went back to Europe where he taught economics and business courses with the University of Maryland in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands for four years.
In 1966 he joined the Moorhead State College now Minnesota State University Moorhead Economics faculty and in 1967 became departmental chairman, a position he held until 1974. During his tenure, the Department grew to seven full-time members. He was responsible for much of the current curriculum with an emphasis on theory, history and measurement as well as the policy of having all faculty teach introductory courses and the writing requirement in all upper-level courses. He taught History of Thought, International Economics, Comparative Systems, International Financial Management and the first course ever offered in Environmental Economics.
In addition to his Departmental Chairmanship he served as Chairman of the University’s Council on Curriculum and Instruction, the Student Activity Budget Committee, and the Athletic Committee. He was also a member of the Faculty Senate and a member of the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Zoo.
After retiring in 1991, Dr. Philipps spent his time gardening, fishing, reading, and listening to music. In 1984-5 he attended the Goethe Institute in Boppard, Germany and the Alliance Francaise in Paris while on Sabbatical. He has also spent three or four months each year traveling in Europe and visiting relatives and good friends while consuming much wine and many Cuban cigars.
Gene was dearly loved by his cousins and friends and will be sorely missed.
Visitation: Wednesday, August 21, 2013, from 5:00 P.M. until 7:00 P.M., in Wright Funeral Home, Moorhead, MN.
Services in Chicago, IL, will be as follows.
Visitation: Friday, August 23, 2013, from 4:00 until 9:00 p.m., in Blake Lamb Funeral Home, Oak Lawn, IL.
Mass of Christian Burial: Saturday, August 24, 2013, at 9:30 a.m., in St. Germaine Catholic Church, Oak Lawn, IL.
Interment: St. Mary’s Cemetery, Evergreen Park, IL.