Gail Phillips

GAIL PHILLIPS died April 9, 2024, several days past reaching 80 years old. She had a full rich life filled with many roles of kindness. She was a daughter, a sister, a mother, a mother-in-law, an aunt, a grandmother and a very good friend. A kind, caring and independent woman, she enjoyed a rewarding career as a Professional Registered Nurse and Certified Nurse-Midwife.

Ms. Phillips was born in Salem, Massachusetts and lived her entire childhood in Swampscott Massachusetts, where she graduated from Swampscott High School in 1962. Gail went on to nursing school at Lynn hospital and graduated from Russell Sage College in Troy New York with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She passed her Nursing boards in Massachusetts as a Professional Registered Nurse by the time she was 21. She later earned her Master of Science in Health Education from Russell Sage College, and to establishing herself as a Certified Nurse-Midwife, a Master of Science in Nursing, through the Historical Frontier Nursing University in Kentucky.

Gail complemented her Midwifery practice with integrative medicine skills of Gentle Restorative Yoga; Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy, Vegan/Macrobiotic/Mediterranean Healing Nutrition; Massage Therapy including Reflexology; Mindful-Based Stress Reduction; Facilitation of Centering Pregnancy; and in her retirement founded Phillips Healthcare Advocacy, whose mission is person-centered care for the best possible outcomes within our healthcare system.

When Gail wasn’t listening to classical music on the Tanglewood lawn, she could be found planting one beautiful garden after another, including her latest for the Ahavath Shalom Congregation in Great Barrington, MA.

Gail was the daughter of the late Ida Brown Phillips and Hollis Hall Phillips of Swampscott, as well as the Granddaughter of the late Harry Franklin Phillips of Swampscott, Massachusetts. Gail leaves two sisters, Beth Phillips Rodman of Berkeley, CA; Holly Sentner of Greensboro, NC, and; and a brother, David L. Phillips of Salem, MA. She gave birth to two children, leaving behind Rebecca Rain (Redbord) of Montvale, NJ; and Adam Joshua Redbord and his wife, Emily Higginson Redbord of Sherborn, MA

Grandmommy Gail leaves her four grandchildren beautiful memories and lifelong wishes of love for each of them, Caroline Ruth Cohen, Juliet Pearl Cohen, Ruby Aurora Redbord, and Teddy, Theodore Edward Redbord.

Gail chose to follow Jewish tradition and have a simple burial. The services are scheduled for 2:00pm on Friday April 12, 2024 at the Ahavath Shalom Cemetery, on Blue Hill Rd, in Great Barrington, MA. In lieu of donations Gail wishes for you to increase your awareness of the joy that is inherently within, to be present without judgement and reaction to all the challenges and stressors that come and go in our lives.