Walker Phillips' memory will live on in Cartersville

Walker Phillips left an indelible impression on everyone he met – even at age 10.

Ebullience emanated from Walker no matter what he was doing. Elementary school principal Wendy Titus said Walker was voted “most joyful” by his North Cobb Christian School classmates in November.

“To know him was to love him,” said Julie Bare, his fourth-grade teacher. “Whether it was in the classroom, working in reading groups or playing football at recess, he was a friend to all, an encourager and a humble leader amongst his peers. He was a phenomenal athlete, but remarkably, he always made sure that everyone was included, regardless of their own abilities. He was simply a great role model.”

The Phillips family and the greater Cartersville community are still processing Walker’s sudden absence. Gone way too soon, he died Friday when the Phillipses’ home was destroyed in an overnight fire.

“I’ll be telling Walker Phillips stories for the rest of my life,” said Jayce Stepp, who proceeded to tell one.

Coaching the last five years both for and against Walker in the Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department, Stepp recalled having Walker on his baseball team in the first year of kid-pitch. Walker was his pitcher, and the young boy was constantly annoyed that the coach had to be out there on the mound with him.

“He said he knew what to do,” Stepp said with a laugh.

Walker proved that over and over. One afternoon, with runners on first and third and no outs, there was a pop-up on the infield. Walker caught the ball near the third-base line, tagged the runner who had inched off third base and, noticing the other base runner was almost to second, sprinted all the way across the diamond to beat him back to the bag at first.

An unassisted triple play. Walker was 7.

“I’m in the dugout, and I just turned and looked at (his father) Cory, who’s sitting in the stands, and I’m like, ‘Are you believing this?’” Stepp said. “But that kid was just that good and that smart.”

Credit: Photo courtesy of the Phillips family

Credit: Photo courtesy of the Phillips family

It’s his legendary sports exploits, mainly, that everybody talks about when the subject is Walker. And it’s not limited to baseball. He was gifted no matter what the game – football, basketball, golf, yes, even gymnastics. He played them all and excelled at them all.

“He was definitely different,” said Vincent Mitchell, who played Walker at linebacker, running back and quarterback in fourth-grade football last fall. “You couldn’t compare him to kids his age at all. I haven’t seen a kid that athletic at that age ever, and I’ve been in coaching a while. He was just head and shoulders above every other kid.”

Some of that certainly had to do with having athletic parents. Dad Cory and mom Courtney competed in football and gymnastics, respectively, at the University of Georgia. But it was Walker’s passion for competition that set him apart from older siblings Cannon and Aiden and, well, most every other kid in Northwest Georgia.

He was skiing at the age of 2, wakeboarding at 3 and was conquering black diamonds in Montana on a snowboard at 8.

“He played so hard at basketball that I would sometimes have to apologize to other moms for how aggressive he is,” his mom wrote in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He gave 100 percent at everything he did because he hates mediocrity.”

Stephanie Nichols, a neighbor in The Waterford Community in which the Phillipses reside, shared a moment she witnessed a month ago. Walking past a second-floor window, she caught a glimpse of Walker playing alone in the street at night.

“He was working on his quarterback footwork and motions in the cul-de-sac,” Nichols told Courtney in a text message. “That’s something I’ll never forget. I stood and watched him from the upstairs windows. It was about 9 at night or after, and he’s outside working and enjoying himself. After several minutes, I called my husband to the window to see him. We were watching how fearless he was out there. I’ll never forget that, illuminated by only the light of the street.”

Few people are closer to the Phillips family than Jon England and his wife, Mande. England is also a former Georgia quarterback and their family of six lived eight houses apart in the same Cartersville neighborhood before moving a few years ago.

It was Walker’s combination of supreme athletic gifts and engaging personality that made him stand out.

“The word that comes to mind is just special,” England said. “His athletic ability is just part of it. He was a good confident but not egotistical. At 10, he knew the athletic talent he had, and he knew others were looking at him. But he also knew how to positively influence others because of it. He looked out for the underdog; he looked out for everybody around him.”

Accordingly, the Cartersville Little League plans to honor Walker at its opening day ceremony March 12. There, they will retire his No. 2 jersey. All the uniforms will be embroidered with his “WP” initials. They will also introduce the Walker Phillips Award, which will be bestowed annually to “the player that exemplifies the hard work, dedication, teamwork and all the things he stood for and represented,” England said, choking back tears.

All of that is fitting and wonderful, but none of it will ever replace the ache of the unknown and the unexplainable that everyone who knew Walker is experiencing.

“As a Little League coach, you always wonder, ‘What is that kid going to be like? What are they going to be like in middle school and in high school and in college?’” Stepp said. “There was zero doubt that Walker Phillips was going to be somebody in sports. What sport is the only question.

“The whole world has been robbed of who he might’ve been. There’s a hole in my heart and in this community, and this whole community is struggling with that. All we can think is that God must have a plan for him that is bigger and better than we could imagine.”