Lt Col Henry A. “Pep” McPhillips Jr (USAF Ret) of Fairhope, Ala., passed away on January 26, 2026 with his wife Patricia by his side. He was the son of the late Col Henry A. McPhillips (USAF Ret) and Mrs. Katherine White McPhillips of Mobile, AL. He was born in Birmingham AL on October 25, 1947 and spent his early years in Mobile and over the Bay. With his father he traveled all over the world, living in Okinawa, Honolulu, Hawaii (where they attended the Hawaii Statehood festivities with the Governor of Hawaii in 1959), Oklahoma and Montgomery AL where he graduated from Sidney Lanier High School in 1966.
He attended the Citadel – the Military College of South Carolina – as a member of I Company graduating in June 1970 with a B.S. in Political Science and a commission as a 2nd Lt in the Air Force. He went to Pilot Training at Big Springs, TX and then went to Vietnam as a FAC (Forward Air Controller) flying an O-2. On Mother’s Day 1972, he was shot down by an SA-7 missile, jumping out the door (no ejection seats in the O-2) and landing in a rice paddy. Luckily the good guys got to him first and he wound up serving as a ground FAC in an underground Army bunker for six days during the Battle of An Loc. For this mission Pep was awarded the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Purple Heart.
In 1979, he transitioned to the A-10, a plane that he loved, flying with the 365th Tactical Fighter Squadron (the Green Demons) at Myrtle Beach, SC as well as 9th AF at Shaw AFB, SC. Later Pep flew the OV-10 both at Eielson AFB, AK and at the 21st TASS at Shaw AFB (the squadron where he began his AF career). Pep retired from the Air Force in 1990 after 20 years and then spent the next 23 years as a golf tournament rules official, tournament director for the FSGA, the SCGA, the NCAA Division III women’s golf championship and others. He loved golf with a passion and played excellent golf himself, even beating USAF General Pete Semler at the age of 13 in the Chiang Kai-Shek Open in Okinawa during a typhoon.
He is survived by his wife of almost 38 years Patricia S. Vanderburg McPhillips of 204 Windsor Dr North, Fairhope, AL and a multitude of cousins all over Mobile and Alabama. At his request there will be no formal services. His ashes will be placed in the Columbarium at the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Spanish Fort AL.