Phyllis L. (Parrish) Tompkins, 81, Starkville, MS, died July 22, 2024. Alzheimer’s disease took Phyllis from her husband of 62 years, former MSU football coach, Jim Tompkins, and their daughter, Paige.
Phyllis was born March 2,1943 in Pensacola, FL. She was a majorette in the Pensacola High School Marching Band and marched in President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural parade in Washington, DC. She met her future husband, Jimmy, soon after arriving on campus at Troy State University. The following summer they married and began a life together that would take them to several different states as Jimmy built a career as a football coach. After their child, Paige, finished elementary school, Phyllis completed her college degree and worked as a respected and admired teacher before retiring in the early 90s.
Her nature was to love and support others, be they her family, friends, neighbors, students, Coach T’s football players, who warmly referred to her as Ms. T, or Paige’s college sorority sisters, who affectionally nicknamed her Philcat. Her love also extended to the many animals she devotedly tended over the years. She spent the last decade of her life spoiling her beloved rescue cat, Cami. Phyllis held dear the lyrics from a favorite song, …the greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. She accomplished both.
Phyllis’s life will be celebrated at a private family service at Montgomery Gardens Assisted Living, where she lived for most of the last year of her life. Coach Jim Tompkins continues to reside there. In lieu of flowers, donations to Cedar Hill Animal Sanctuary would benefit a cause she strongly supported. https://cedarhillanimalsanctuary.org/
