Douglas Robert Phillips

Doug Phillips was born September 4, 1943 in St. George, Utah, to Robert and Lenora Phillips. He was the second of four sons. Doug's father died when he was 4. The family lived on a chicken ranch in the desert in what is now within the town limits of St. George. He also worked baling hay for local farmers. Doug's first paying job, at age 13, was at the St. George soft-drink bottling plant counting bottles. Doug liked to say that after graduating from high school in 1961 he enlisted in the U.S. Army and caught the first bus out of town. He graduated from paratrooper school in November 1961. He was an honor graduate of the 6th Army NCO Academy in June 1962. He completed the Jump Master Course with the 101st Airborne in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in June 1963, after which he entered the Special Forces. He graduated first in his class in June 1964 from the Artillery and Missile Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. His last duty was in the Utah National Guard as Headquarters Company commander of the 19th Special Forces group in Salt Lake City from 1965-1966. He resigned his commission as an officer in January 1968 in protest of the Vietnam War. He attended the University of Utah from 1965 to 1967 graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science - pre law. To put himself through college he worked as a tow truck driver and managed a small motel with his first wife Haven Howell. In January 1968 he moved to Denver and worked full-time as a claims adjuster, underwriter and sales representative for Safeco Insurance and Transamerica Insurance Companies from 1968 to 1973 while attending night law school at the University of Denver. During law school he provided draft counseling as a volunteer. During this time his two daughters were born, Jennifer in 1970 and Megan in 1972. Jennifer, of Somerville, Massachusetts, is a digital collections specialist at Tufts University. Megan is a dolphin trainer at SeaWorld in San Diego. Doug graduated from DU Law School in 1973 and opened his own law practice. His specialty throughout his law career has been representing injured workers in more than 5, 000 contested workers compensation claims in Colorado. His law practice has involved all phases of workers compensation from mediation through appeals to the Colorado Supreme Court. Doug taught workers compensation law at the University of Denver Law School on numerous occasions. He also testified before the Colorado State Legislature on workers compensation issues at least 50 times since 1975. Doug was a member of the 2nd Judicial District Judicial Nominating Commission from 1976 to 1982. He is routinely listed as one of Colorado's ""Super Lawyers"" and is listed in the book, ""Best Lawyers in America."" Doug and his wife Sue wrote a legal treatise called Colorado Workers' Compensation Practice and Procedure. Writing this legal treatise required eight years. The first edition was published in 1998 and the second in 2005. Each year Doug and Sue write the annual updated supplement. He also was author and co-author of Colorado Methods of Practice, Workers' Compensation Practice since 1982. Doug was a member of the Colorado Bar Association, the Denver Bar Association, the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association and the Workers Compensation Educational Association. Doug became interested in wine in the 1970s. Never content to merely taste and compare wine, Doug returned to his farming roots. He and several friends leased land on Garvin Mesa near Paonia, Colorado. Doug planted thousands of vines by hand; he tilled the ground and helped trellis the vineyard. In 1984 Doug and longtime friend Erik Bruner started Plum Creek Cellars in Larkspur, 30 minutes south of Denver. It was Doug who insisted that Plum Creek would be the first winery ever to make wine from grapes grown only in Colorado. In 1986, envisioning the need for a sufficient supply of grapes for the fledgling winery, Doug purchased a 100-acre former orchard site near Paonia and planted 30 acres of Chardonnay and two acres of Pinot Noir. Soon afterwards Doug realized he would have to fence in the entire vineyard property to protect the grapevines from migratory elk. Doug and Sue began practicing law together in 1987, before their marriage, when he helped her open her own law practice. Within a week he was inviting her to donate time on weekends during harvest, winemaking and bottling. From this union of dedication and hard work Doug and Sue took Plum Creek from a winery producing 400 cases of wine per year to the more than 10, 000 cases it produces today. One of Doug's favorite accomplishments was helping write the legislation which created the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board. He was instrumental in lobbying state legislators to explain the importance a wine industry could have to Colorado, both to agriculture and to tourism. He was chairman of the Wine Board from 1990 to 1998. He returned to the Wine Board again in 2005 and served until 2008. In addition to his public and professional accomplishments Doug was dedicated to his family and passionate about sharing his love of travel with his family. Doug was a believer in education and provided every opportunity to his daughters for schooling, foreign travel and study and on-job research and training. In addition to his wife Sue, he is survived by daughters Jennifer Phillips (Andrew Jagenow), Megan Phillips (Jim Pulciani); brothers Clifford S. of St. George, Utah; Vern E. of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Craig E. of Toquerville, Utah, and numerous nephews and nieces. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to the Legal Aid Foundation of Colorado.