BENTON – Harlan Phelps passed away on June 8, 2013. He was born in Elizabeth, LA on September 10, 1937 to John and Minnie Nunley Phelps but spent most of his childhood years in Logansport where he was a star athlete at Logansport High School.
Funeral services for Mr. Phelps will be on Tuesday, June 11 at 2:00 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2565 Airline Drive, Bossier City, LA. Reverend Sig Kunz will officiate. Interment will follow at Rose-Neath Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be on Monday, June 10 from 5-7 p.m. at Rose-Neath Funeral Home on Airline Dive. Family members will serve as pallbearers.
Harlan volunteered for the Army and spent three years in Army intelligence in Nuremberg, Germany. His job was to intercept code from the famous Russian satellite, Sputnik. His eyes were opened to the bigger world, and he decided that a college education would help him fit better in that picture. He graduated from Northwestern State University in 1964. His entire business career was spent as a Human Resource Manager for General Electric, Emerson Electric, Falstaff Brewing Corporation and then, being able to come home to Louisiana, with UOP (now Honeywell). He retired in 1998, and he and Virginia enjoyed a happy retirement touring the country and enjoyed leisure time with their friends and grandchildren.
Harlan will be best remembered for his helpful nature. He was the neighborhood good guy, befriended those in need, and was well suited for his job by affording others the opportunity for employment. His personal motto was: “If you can, say yes.” It was his pleasure to mentor young people, even having some of them live with the family. People named Karyn, Susan, Lloyd, Ashley, Mary Lynn, Mark, Keith, and Amy plus those who were employees of UOP benefited from his counsel.
He will be greatly missed by his loving family: Virginia, his wife of 50 years; their daughter, Paula Minor, and her husband, Ed; and their son, Russell Phelps, and his wife, Jennifer. Harlan and Virginia’s grandchildren are John Landi, Christina Landi Cordero, Brian Landi, Bradley Phelps, Michael Phelps, and Jackson Phelps. Another generation begins with great-grandson, Isaac Cordero. Harlan is also survived by his brothers, Winston, Dalton, and Luke Phelps and a large family of nieces and nephews. The family gratefully thanks our longtime medical advisor, Dr. Germain Cassiere for his years of care for Harlan. His short stay at the Northwest Louisiana War Veterans Home provided us with outstanding service on Wings 2 and 4, in addition to the compassionate care by Dr. Fleniken and the Christus Hospice team.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation in his name to the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana, 2307 Texas Avenue, Shreveport, LA 71103 would honor the memory of his having been a friend to those in need
