Richelle F. Phillips, 59, social worker and church leader

SOME PEOPLE might tend to lose a little concentration when pastors drone on with their sermons. But not Richelle Phillips. She actually made notes and dissected the messages.

"She found a way to make every message her very own," said her husband, James Phillips.

That was Richelle Phillips. She had an analytical mind to go with the compassion that marked a life of service to children, young people in trouble and elderly folks who needed a lift.

Richelle F. Phillips, a social worker, church leader and devoted mother, died Oct 3 of breast cancer. She was 59 and lived in Germantown.

When someone wanted to talk to her husband, she would ask, "Do you want to talk to the man in charge, or the woman who knows what is going on?"

Richelle was a woman of many interests, not the least of which were jazz (which she pursued with her husband at festivals all over the country) and African-American traditions.

"She loved wearing African-inspired clothing," James said. "She even got me wearing dashikis and mud cloth."

Richelle studied psychology at Elizabethtown College and that set the course of her life. She first worked as a night counselor at the Sacred Heart Division of Haverford State Hospital, then became a counselor at the Devereaux Foundation.

In 1988, she enrolled in the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College. With her master's degree in social services, she became an individual and group counselor in the methadone program for women at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

She then went to work in Chester as a program director for the Chester Community Coalition, providing counseling services to children with behavioral problems and their parents.

Back in Philadelphia, she worked at the Friends Neighborhood Guild, where she developed an after-school program and other services for truant youths. She piloted a "Rites of Passage" program for girls, and helped spearhead the Freedom School, a summer program to keep young people on track.

Richelle then turned her attention to grandmothers who were raising grandchildren. She worked in the Support of Older Women Network (SOWN) as coordinator of the Grand Families Resource Center.

"She beamed whenever she talked about 'her' grandmothers," her husband said. "She enjoyed them as much as they enjoyed her."

After being diagnosed with breast cancer, Richelle continued to work at SOWN, but was forced to leave a year ago.

Richelle was born in Philadelphia to Inez Harris Peters and Richard L. Peters. She graduated from John Bartram High School, where she was in the Motivation Program.

Also in the program was her future husband, James Phillips.

"We started dating when Richelle was in the 11th grade," her husband said. "I escorted her to the junior and senior proms. My wife was definitely college-bound, but I decided to get a job."

When Richelle went off to college, James was not discouraged. He saved his money and bought a car so he could visit her on the weekends.

"I was a man on a mission," he said.

They were married March 17, 1979.

Richelle played the bass clarinet in high school, and loved jazz. She and her husband attended jazz festivals in Newport, R.I.; Saratoga, N.Y.; Hampton, Va.; Wilmington, Del.; and Philadelphia.

They joined Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church and were active in various ministries.

"My mother had a saying that real mothers teach their children to be critical thinkers," said her daughter, Ayanna Kalasunas. "I am so much like her in terms of attention to detail and doing things right."

Richelle was a member of the Women Gather Conference, a group of women dedicated to African-American traditions. Some of the members gathered at the Sacred Heart Home, where Richelle was a patient, on her birthday Sept. 27.

"They gathered to sing, laugh and pray," her husband said. "It was a wonderful time for my wife and me."

Besides her husband and daughter, she is survived by a son, Jamil, and her mother.

Services: 10 a.m. tomorrow at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, 250 W. Coulter St. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be at Eden Cemetery in Collingdale.