La Grange Faces — Lee Phillips

1. Name: Lee Phillips
2. Occupation: Jailer, Martial Arts Instructor, Volunteer Firefighter
3. Hometown: Butchertown, Louisville, KY.
4. Current Neighborhood: Lakeside Subdivision
5. Number of years in La Grange: 24.
6. My favorite annual event is: Light Up La Grange.
7. I would love it if: I could buy the old Kincaid Hardware building (currently Laser Technology) and turn it back into a theater/ballroom.
8. My favorite local secret is: La Grange has some great ghost stories! Okay not a big secret.
9. Tell us something we don’t know about La Grange: The large red ring hanging in the court yard was once used to summon firefighters.
10. I’m working on: Expanding my personal defense training business.
11. My perfect evening involves: Sitting at home catching up on shows with my wife, Beth.
12. My favorite La Grange restaurant is: All of them! I really like to eat.
13. My favorite retail shop is: That’s a hard question; I have probably bought the most from Dizzy Daves or Traderbakers.
14. I like to hang out: At home with my wife and our dog Kaji.
15. My favorite local band is: I don’t know, I haven’t heard them all play. I do like Allen Lane and Dwaine Durrett.
16. The best thing that’s happened to La Grange is: It has retained its historic feel as it has grown.
17. La Grange is special because: It’s one of a very few towns that has a train running through the middle of town.
18. I love La Grange because: Its small town charm and its people. La Grange has a lot of character and we have pretty much everything you need without having to leave town, great shops, fine dining, and a movie theater.

From downtown Louisville to downtown La Grange, Lee has been a part of some historic neighborhoods in his lifetime. A proud product of the Butchertown neighborhood where he was born and spent his childhood, one of seven children, Lee was surrounded by historic Bakery Square and the Old St. Joseph Catholic Church as well as the Edison House and lived on the edge of downtown Louisville. He attended Shawnee High School and hung out in historic Portland as well.

Unlike most of his classmates in school, Lee had an unusual sleep schedule that involved getting up at 1am to deliver papers to paper boxes on downtown Louisville street corners and returning home at around 5am just in time for school. This gave him a unique perspective of the night life in Louisville in his formative years. This experience led to the importance of knowing personal defense. He began his study of martial arts at the age of six with his older brother, Buddy.  He has some interesting stories to share about his and his family’s adventures during that time.

He moved to La Grange with his parents, Meryl and Bud, his brothers Brian and Don, and his uncles John and Henry in 1988, and was later joined by his sisters Carol and Meryl, who migrated with their families. His other sister, Cindy, lives in Maryland; but, he is trying to talk her into moving to La Grange with her family, also.

He started working at the Oldham County Jail as a Deputy in 1989 and was recently promoted to Captain. He joined the La Grange Fire and Rescue Department in 1991 and has recently re-certified with the fire department as an EMT, which he did for 10 years prior to the establishment of Oldham County EMS.

Lee operates Phillips Personal Defense training which offers martial arts instruction, self-defense training and Concealed Carry classes. He resides in La Grange with his wife of 7 years (fiancée of 15), Beth, and his rescued dog Kaji who picked Lee out at the shelter.

Billy Markham of One Thousand Words Photography (Facebook page) snapped this image of Lee Phillips. Billy and Jeremy Ockerman create a two-person team that provides quality service at an affordable price. Billy and Jeremy have nearly six years of combined experience shooting weddings, engagement sessions, family sessions, sporting events, landscapes, and still-life. “One Thousand Words” also offers other services such as invitation, save-the-date card and wedding program design, rehearsal dinner coverage, and wedding facilitator. If you missed them at the 2012 bridal fair, “Springtime in Paris,” you can catch them in our current bridal directory.