Coming Home: Sons bring 79-year-old Berta Phillips back to 'beloved home'

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Published on Tuesday, 10 July 2012 09:31

Mary Loveland
Daily Elk Citian 

A jar of Oklahoma red dirt, a door knob from the "Old Home Place," and a blade from the family farm's old windmill adorn Berta Walker Phillips' home all the way in Kennewick, Wash. Each piece is a reminder of a place that she will always consider "home."

Berta was born to Harvey and Mary Walker on a cotton farm eight miles west of Elk City in 1931. She grew up working the fields, milking cows and riding horses – all memories that she holds dear to her heart and are still fresh in her mind. But in the mid-forties, Berta and her family moved to Washington when she was just a teenager. Since then, she has only been back four or five times.

"She has not been in the area for many years, but holds the Old Home Place in Elk City as her beloved home," Tim Phillips, one of Berta's five sons, said. "My dad [Grandville Phillips] died late last year, leaving my mom to live alone. My four brothers and I have put a trip together for the five of us to bring mom back to Elk City one last time so she can visit family grave sites, the Old Home Place and to get her fingers back in that red Oklahoma dirt."

So just this past weekend, Berta and her five sons – Dale, Steve, Rob, Jeff and Tim Phillips – traveled to Elk City to do just that.

For the full story pick up the Tuesday, July 10, edition of the Daily Elk Citian.