Superintendent of Mormon Trail Schools Died of COVID Complications

(Humeston, Iowa)  COVID-19 complications are blamed for the death of the superintendent of a small school district in southern Iowa.  The Mormon Trail School District said on Facebook that Superintendent Kerry Phillips “lost his battle with Covid” on Sunday.  Phillips was a native of Ottumwa and died at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City.  He was 61.  The Des Moines Register was first to report Phillips died of Covid, two days after the death of his 85-year-old father.   No cause of death was listed.  Gene Phillips owned and operated Phillips Sanitation in Ottumwa for nearly 50 years before retiring in 1998. Kerry Phillips had been Mormon Trail’s superintendent since the start of the 2017 academic year. His visitation is Thursday and the funeral is Friday at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Ottumwa.