The people of Manchester nominated Mr Phillips to become a Justice of the Peace (JP). He has served the Manchester community from the Gas Station office for nearly forty years in this capacity with exemplary distinction. He estimates that as a JP, he serves on an average day between thirty and forty persons. He was First Vice President of the Lay Magistrates Association for five years. In addition, he has served the Mediation and Petty Session Court on numerous occasions. He has also acted as Custos of Manchester for short periods of time.

2010 Manchester Chamber of Commerce President’s award

2002 Mr Phillips was awarded the Golden Scale Award from the Lay Magistrate Association, Middlesex

1982 Founding father of the Justice of the Peace Association which later laid the foundation for the Lay Magistrate Association. He was also very instrumental in obtaining from the government a gift of land to build the Lay Magistrates Association of Manchester’s headquarters.

Profile of Mortimer Artimus Phillips

‘Every calling is great when greatly pursued’, Oliver Wendel Holmes. Mortimer Artimus Phillips, affectionately known as Artie Phillips, can vehemently declare this to be true. He is a legendary twenty-first century man, born of humble beginnings in Forest Mountain, St. Elizabeth. He grew up with his five siblings under the wise guidance of his mother, Miranda Phillips. The loss of his father at the tender age of seven years old was not an obstacle which discouraged him. He attended school in Fyffes Pen, St. Elizabeth taking the daily seven-mile trek to school. He left school at age fifteen and pursued a career in the mechanical field. He embraced the opportunity to attend trade school, learning at the feet of his uncle, Mr George Burton who operated a successful business in Black River.

Mr Phillips has excelled and demonstrated remarkable initiative and impressive leadership skills. He acquired a truck and began working for the bauxite company and later went into the petroleum delivery field in 1963 when he acquired a Shell (now Rubis) gas station in Mandeville at 3 ½ Caledonia Road. Together with his wife and their daughters, Mr Phillips has operated this gas station for fifty-two years.

Mr Phillips also purchased a number of properties in Manchester and St. Elizabeth. He developed these properties and built a plaza in Santa Cruz and several residential homes. Through the establishment of these successful business ventures, he became a respected and recognized businessman in the community.

His many accomplishments include the founding of the Justice of the Peace Association in 1982, which later laid the foundation for the Lay Magistrate Association. He was also very instrumental in obtaining from the government a gift of land to build the Lay Magistrates Association of Manchester’s headquarters.

In recognition of his dedication to the Manchester community, in 2002 Mr Phillips was awarded the Golden Scale Award from the Lay Magistrate Association, Middlesex. He was also awarded the Manchester Chamber of Commerce President’s award in 2010.

As the famous saying goes, ‘behind every great man is a great woman’, Mrs Marjorie Phillips is the great woman behind this successful man. With the help of his wife, he established the gas station which they have been operating for over forty years. Mr and Mrs Phillips have four beautiful daughters who are now married. They also have nine grandchildren. His daughters work along with him and his wife in the family business.

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated that ‘a great man stands on God’, and Mr Phillips’ success could not have been possible without his strong spiritual foundation. He is dedicated to serving God and the people of his country freely. ‘Men of wisdom are only but a few, Men of character are always trusted’ by Artie Phillips, Final Musings, 2009.

February 23, 2015