Thomas Phillips

Thomas Phillips passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family at Aspirus Wausau Hospital in the Palliative Care Unit. He was blessed with a week full of a lot of family and friends visiting in the hospital, with tons of love, stories and laughter prior to his passing.

Tom was born on November 9th, 1966 in Albert Lea, MN to Michael (Mike) Phillips and Sally (Halverson) Trytten. He was the oldest child, with two younger siblings. He had a younger brother, Terry (1 1/2 years younger), that passed away way too young and his younger sister, Kelli (7 years younger).

Tom graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1985, where he still holds a Track & Field record in 300m Intermediate Hurdles (38.9 seconds) that he set in 1984. Along with his great Track & Field success, Tom was a very strong competitor in Wrestling. We found out a day before Tom passed away that he will be inducted into the Albert Lea High School Athletic Hall of Fame! Very well deserved and so incredibly special!

After high school, Tom moved to St. Cloud and attended the St. Cloud Technical College for a short time and was also working part time at Best Buy in the warehouse. He was unsure about his choice of majors and decided to not continue at the Technical College. As he worked at Best Buy longer, he realized that he could see himself pursuing a future with the company. Tom then proceeded to continuously work his way up in the company and worked with Best Buy for 30 years, until he was diagnosed with his initial brain tumor in 2017. Tom truly loved working for Best Buy and always held dear the company and all of the many, many deep and special friendships he was blessed with through his time there and beyond. He always called it his Best Buy family.

In 1991, Tom met his cherished wife, Beth (married almost 32 years), when they both worked at the Eau Claire, WI Best Buy. They both knew early on in their relationship that they were meant to be together forever. Their journey with Best Buy took them to various places. Duluth, MN, several places in Michigan and they finally settled in Wausau, WI.

Tom and Beth fell in love with the Wausau community, central and northern WI and made some amazing memories with their boys and so very many outstanding friendships throughout the years. Tons of amazing memories were made.

An avid outdoorsman, Tom did a ton of trapping when he was younger, along with a variety of hunting and fishing adventures during his whole lifetime. Some of his most memorable experiences included his annual fishing trips to Canada, the annual deer hunt in Houston, MN and turkey hunting. Also, as much fishing as he could with Beth and the boys and a large amount of other hunting activities.

Tom was a diehard Minnesota Vikings fan and convinced his three boys early in their lives to follow their Dad in that loyalty. Much to the chagrin of Beth, who is a strong diehard Green Bay Packer fan. Tom, Beth and the boys have enjoyed watching football and a very large variety of sporting events over the years.

Tom enjoyed doing volunteer work through Best Buy and also with his boys' sports through the years. He worked a lot of hours and travelled for his job, but he always tried to be at as many of his son's activities as was humanly possible and he did an amazing job with that. That was always very extremely important to him.

Tom's family wants to intensely share their deepest appreciation to the many doctors, even more super nurses, all of his inpatient therapy caregivers (both times he was there) and his various physical, occupational and speech therapists who helped him through his journey. Also, the many kind receptionists, assistants and ALL of the staff that were a part of his care. A great thanks also goes to the Good News Project in Wausau, WI for their kindness, compassion and help with all of the equipment rentals needed for Tom.

Tom is survived by his Dad, Mike (Sue) Phillips, of Geneva, MN; His Mom, Sally (Greg) Trytten, of Albert Lea, MN; His sister, Kelli Tiegs (Fiancé Len Olson) of Albert Lea; His wife, Beth Phillips of Wausau, WI; His 3 sons, Jacob Phillips and Michael Phillips of Wausau, WI and Sully Phillips of Owatonna, MN. He's also survived by many amazing Aunts, Uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

Tom was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Robert (Bob) and Beverly Phillips; His maternal grandparents, Merle Halverson, his first wife Bonna Bel and his second wife Marion; His brother, Terry Phillips; His Uncle Pat Phillips and his Uncle Kirk Halverson.

A visitation for Tom will be held on September 19, 2025, from 4:00-6:00pm at Bonnerup Funeral & Cremation Services, 2210 E Main St, Albert Lea, MN 56007. Another visitation will be on September 20, 2025, from 1:00-2:00pm preceding his funeral at 2:00pm held at St. Theodore's Catholic Church, 315 E Clark St, Albert Lea, MN 56007, with the burial and luncheon to follow.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to The Good News Project (goodnewswi.com and click on Donate) or St. Jude (stjude.org).

Tom’s Celebration of Life Letter:

Thomas Michael Phillips was born in Albert Lea, MN to Michael (Mike) Phillips and Sally (Halverson) Trytten. Tom had a little brother, Terry Phillips, who was born 1 1/2 after him. Terry had special medical needs from birth and Tom loved his brother so very much! Terry passed away way too young, at the age of 11. Tom also was blessed with a little sister, Kelli Phillips, who is 7 years younger. He loved his sister very much, but when he was told that his sibling was born and it was a girl, he dropped to the floor and exclaimed, “I’m doomed”! Very funny family story!

An alert here. This will be a long story, because Tom lived an awesome and full life, even though it was very unfortunately cut way too short.

Tom had a wonderful time growing up. He was involved in a number of sports, including Hockey, Baseball, Football, Wrestling and Track & Field. Tom’s talents really shone in Wrestling and Track & Field as he got older. He had many, many accomplishments in his sports, but the highlights of his Track & Field career were 2nd place in the state his junior year (1984) in the 300 intermediate hurdles & he broke the school record during this race. Wrestling was Tom’s favorite, which he began doing at a young age. His biggest accolades in his Wrestling career included 4th in the state his junior year (1984) and 2nd in the state his senior year (1985).

Also at a young age, Tom developed a deep love of fishing. He would often fish alone, but then got his Dad to start enjoying it, too. This love led to annual fishing trips, (plus a ton of other fishing during the year) journeying up to Canada. It began with Tom, his Grandpa Bob Phillips, his Dad and his buddy, Dave Lent with a small boat and sleeping in tents. They then later discovered Lac Seul Outfitters located on Lac Seul in Ontario, Canada & they upgraded to cabins & eventually to bigger and better boats. More Canada fishing stories to follow later in this letter.

Also growing up, Tom and his Dad were super involved in trapping. They explored, discovered and frequented many different spots where they became very successful. Tom has a great number of memories from his trapping ventures. Tom was always so thankful that his Mom put up with a not so pleasant smelling hobby!

Tom and his Dad also loved duck hunting, along with their yellow lab, Jake! Tom loved every aspect of the duck hunting experience. Well, except for his Dad not allowing the heat to be on in the cold mornings on the way to their spot, so they could acclimate to the cold. He, not so surprisingly, didn’t think that was much fun. Tom and his Dad had great stories and memories of those years.

Another lifetime long passion was deer hunting every Fall. Tom’s Dad discovered some hunting land that they could hunt in Houston, MN, that Tom hunted every year his whole life. It was a tremendous family hunting tradition with his Dad and his 3 boys, also including Dave Lent, that has endless history and endless stories (some of which were the “what happens at hunting camp, stays at hunting camp” type). Other family also joined them various times over the years. Tom loved this annual event and usually started getting things ready 3-4 weeks ahead of time.

To move on for now, there will be more on Tom’s hunting and fishing acumen later in the letter and we’ll share other Tom information.

Tom graduated in 1985 from Albert Lea High School. He really had fond times and many sports successes in high school. Earlier, it was shared about his biggest accomplishments that were simply amazing. His parents were very proud of all that he did and his Dad was most definitely his biggest wrestling fan and can crazily remember a ton of detailed scores and results for Tom over many, many years. It never gets old hearing the stories of Tom’s Wrestling career and his Track & Field success.

Tom also had a great group of friends that experienced a lot of different things growing up. He had a ton of fun and crazy stories of his and his buddies good times. Some of those friends were guys that Tom kept in touch with his whole life.

After Tom graduated, he decided to move to St. Cloud, MN. He attended St. Cloud Technical College while there and started working part time in the warehouse at Best Buy - Store #12. He ended up not being too sure about his choice of majors, so he decided to step away from the Technical College. As he worked at Best Buy longer, he got to thinking that he could possibly see himself making Best Buy his future. Which, it most definitely was!

Tom began working his way up in Best Buy and that brought him to being promoted to an Assistant Manager at the Eau Claire, WI Best Buy. In 1991, he met Beth Clark, who was working at that Best Buy part time, while attending graduate school at UW-Stout. They really connected and early in their relationship, they really felt that they were meant to be together forever. Tom and Beth’s Best Buy journey took them many places. First, to Duluth, MN and then on to Michigan, where Tom opened multiple Best Buys as a General Manager and the two of them moved into 5 different places in 5 years in MI.

They found out that they were expecting in 1994 and Jacob Terry Phillips was born in July, 1995. In 1996, they found out they were going to have another baby and in May, 1997, Michael Kirk Phillips was born. And then in early 1998, they were again blessed to learn another child would be joining their busy lives. At this point, Tom and Beth were thinking that they really wanted to get nearer to family in WI and MN and started looking into getting back that way. So, Tom then discovered that Wausau, WI was planning on opening a Best Buy - Store #399 (Raise the Roof!). This sounded like a great option for them, but the caveat was that they had to move there quickly. This meant another move with two little boys and Beth being pregnant. But, they were excited to get closer to family. So, Tom opened the Wausau Best Buy in the Fall of 1998 and Sully Clark Phillips was born November, 1998.

To skip a lot of details of Tom’s vast Best Buy journey, he ran the Wausau store for many years and then moved into a District Human Resources manager and his last position with Best Buy was a Senior Market Human Resources Manager and he oversaw 2 districts and 33 stores. Tom worked with Best Buy for 30 years until it was discovered in 2017 that Tom had a brain tumor.

Tom couldn’t have asked for a better career choice. He loved Best Buy and his loyalty to his company never wavered, even through all of the various changes over the years, which has kept it a strong retail presence. The biggest highlight of his years with Best Buy was the huge amount of amazing friends that he made and enjoyed a crazy amount of memories with. Their influence on Tom and Tom’s influence on them was such an amazing gift. Many, many of them became friends of Beth and the boys, also. What fun times and memories were had by all on the various occasions, parties, trips and Achiever Events!

Tom’s Best Buy family stepped up with such an immense amount of support and generosity after Tom’s brain tumor diagnosis in 2017. The deep appreciation can never be expressed correctly, but know what a profound impact it made on helping us all. We’ll all be forever grateful for you all!

Back to Tom’s family stories. Tom was a very proud and involved Dad of his 3 boys - Jacob, Michael and Sully. Anyone that knew Tom completely gets how true this is. His love for them was always apparent and shown in all that he did for them and with them.

From the beginning of their lives, he and Beth would get them out in the boat as much as possible. They learned, from a super young age, how to fish. As it was stated earlier, Tom was an avid fisherman and Beth is just as much so. She grew up on a lake and learned her love of fishing early in life, also. Which Tom loved greatly, as many of his family’s best memories were on the water and in his beloved boat with his wife and boys. The whole family enjoyed a huge amount of water activities and the incredible memories are endless.

Back to Canada memories now. Tom couldn’t wait to share the Canadian fishing experience with his boys. He did make them wait until they each turned 10 years old, as he felt that that was a good age for them to be able to fish all day long, every day that they were there. Then, every single year after, Tom and the boys, Tom’s Dad and his buddy, Dave, went to Lac Seul, Ontario, Canada and stayed in the same location every year. There were others that enjoyed the experience at different times, including Tom’s uncle Tim, Dave’s brother, Donald and Tom’s nephews Matthew and Tommy. Beth even joined Tom and Dave on a trip one year, which she is so thankful for. SO many memories, fun and crazy happenings and large fish and huge numbers of fish were caught.

On to Tom’s love of the annual deer hunt in Houston, MN. Tom had years of enjoying his years of hunting in that location with his Dad and many other family members. Then, as each of Tom’s boys were of the age to be able to hunt, he began bringing them. Boy, was Tom so deeply proud of his boys’ accomplishments when deer hunting. He always said that he enjoyed his boys getting a deer so greatly more than getting his own. He cherished that trip every single year. Many years and most of Tom’s time hunting there, they had a beautiful lady, Marlene Schultz, that let them hunt her and her late husband, Jim’s land and they also rented the bunkhouse from them for many years, until Marlene sold it, but she still has the land where Tom hunted his whole deer hunting life until 2023. This past November, 2024, Tom was unable to, unfortunately. Tom and the boys also made a super friend in Marlene’s brother, Bob. What a great man and great part of their memories for many of the years.

Later in life, Tom began gaining a stronger appreciation of turkey hunting. It was a fun addition to his outdoorsmanship that he enjoyed every year, too. Tom was lucky enough to find an amazing opportunity for him and the boys to hunt turkeys on the Harold & Judy Baeseman family’s farm and he was also lucky to be able to call them his friends. Tom and the boys had a lot of success there over the years. Tom’s Dad also shot a big tom turkey on their land!

In the Spring of 2022, on the Baeseman’s property, Tom had the most unbelievable turkey hunting experience ever! Tom’s vision wasn’t what it formerly was, due to the effects of his brain tumor, and Beth and the boys were worried about if his sight limitations would inhibit his ability to shoot a turkey again. Long story short and there is the story provided separately at his funeral, if you’re interested, of the amazing event of Tom shooting 3 turkeys in 1 shot! We had legal tags for Tom, Jacob and Michael that came in handy for this. Such a cool story and blessing in Tom’s journey!

Tom’s parents had so much influence in his life. Strength, kindness, compassion, resilience & love! He loved them so very deeply! His Mom taught him kindness, compassion, how to cook, bake and clean, among many other things. His Dad taught him strength, a hard work ethic, teasing ways and they were most definitely best friends.

Many people that Tom knew over the years said that Tom had such a strength and presence about him that impressed upon people wherever he went. We know that Tom impacted and influenced more people than we could ever know.

Tom believed in God, the good in people and that people thrived better with encouragement, teaching and kudos for their successes.

To say that he is missed can never explain the depth of that. But, God needed him in Heaven for his purpose there now. We know that he will be a strong strength & presence for all there, too! Rest in complete comfort and wholeness again, dearest husband, dad, son, brother, uncle, cousin, nephew, relative and friend. You are so deeply loved by so many people, our Thomas Michael Phillips. Until we meet again . . . 🙏💗☀️