Phillip W. McClaskey

Phillip W. McClaskey, born September 21, 1934, passed away September 6, 2013. Family will greet friends at Hamilton’s, 605 Lyon Street, Des Moines, on Wednesday, September 11, 2013, from 6 – 8 pm. A funeral service will be held on Thursday, September 12, at 11 am at Capitol Hill Christian Church, 3322 E. 25th Street, Des Moines, with burial following at Laurel Hill Cemetery. Family and friends are invited to a luncheon afterwards at the church. Memorials may be given to the Shriners Hospitals for Children – Twin Cities (www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org) or to Capitol Hill Christian Church.

Phil (known to his oldest friends as Tike) was born and raised in Des Moines, and met his wife of 58 years, Frances, while they were both teenagers. While she was babysitting in the neighborhood, he asked to borrow a salt shaker to use on some watermelon he and his friends had. She declined; he came back anyway!

He is survived by his loving family, wife Frances (Slater) McClaskey; three children, Cynthia, Jeffrey, and Timothy and daughter-in-law, Diane; five grandchildren, Jessica (Corey) Neuzil, and James (Monica) and their mother Kate, and Rachael, Abbye, and Diego; and two great-grandchildren, Acquila and Madelae. He is also survived by his brother, Newell Shoup, many loving nieces and nephews, and many dear friends. He was predeceased by his mother, Vernon Shoup and his father, Robert F. McClaskey, two brothers, Robert J., and Dwight E., and one infant son, Michael W.

Phil was proud to serve the City of Des Moines as a Firefighter beginning in 1959, and he worked for many years as an Emergency Medical Technician on the Rescue Squad at a number of fire stations. He retired as a Lieutenant in 1983, but still loved to visit his former friends and colleagues and to make new friends. Through 2013, his most recent employment was at the Iowa Lottery. Phil was a 32nd Degree Mason, and a member of Acanthus Lodge #632 in Des Moines, the York Rite, the Knights Templar, and the Mini Bike Patrol in the Za-Ga-Zig Shrine. He assisted for many years with such activities as the Shrine Circus, transporting children to the Shriners Hospital for Children – Twin Cities as a Roadrunner. He rode his 50 cc Benelli Mini Bike in parades all around central Iowa, dressed in his Keystone Cop uniform. Phil was a dedicated member of Grant Park Christian Church, serving as Trustee, Deacon, and Elder. He recently transferred his membership to Capitol Hill Christian Church. He was also a member of the Federation of Retired City Employees, the Des Moines Technical High School Alumni group (1952), and the Senior Men’s Clubs at Terrace Hill and Toad Valley Golf Courses.

His family remembers his great sense of humor, that his emergency scanner was always on, and that he was never one to be idle. He loved to work in his flower and vegetable gardens, and always had home or auto projects ongoing when not working, loving his family, golfing, or helping out his many organizations.

Condolences may be expressed at:
www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com

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