Larry Ridell Phillips was born on November 12, 1951, in Houston, Texas to the Reverend James V. Phillips and Mrs. Gladys Smith Phillips, a special education educator and administrator. He was a 1969 student-athlete graduate of Kashmere High School. Being reared in a pastor’s home caused the young Larry to be very circumspect about his life’s purpose and the discipline required to achieve his goals. Larry was driven and goal oriented believing that he could achieve all things through Christ Jesus and adherence to a daily, progressive regimen. As the third of four sons, he closely observed the examples of his older brothers—James, Jr. and Clyde—from an early age learning what to do and more importantly, what not to do. A quick learner, Larry sought to avoid unnecessary trouble at home. He was a great role model and protector for his younger brother, Gary.
At an early age, he fell in love with the game of baseball, playing little league with the Danny Snack Braves and pony League with the Tigers in his Pleasantville Community. Larry’s neighborhood feeder schools were E. O. Smith and Phillis Wheatley but his mind was set to follow his brothers James and Clyde to Kashmere Gardens Jr Sr High School. He was a talented saxophone player for Conrad (Prof) Johnson and the world-acclaimed Thunder of Soul Stage Band. At Kashmere he would become teammates of the guys that he competed against in pony league and rival to his neighborhood friends who attended Wheatley. Larry would blossom into a three year varsity letterman and ace pitcher for Coach Henry Stevenson. He developed into a masterful, right-handed pitcher with a “mean” curveball. He was fond of saying of his fastball that it was the “blue novel: you can see it but can’t read it.” In 1969 Larry would lead Kashmere to second place in a real competed district 17-4A. He was an All-District selection his senior season at Kashmere. His skill earned him baseball scholarships including one to Arizona State University (ASU). He attended ASU for one year before departing due to racism experienced at the school. Larry then followed the footsteps of his older brothers to Baltimore, Maryland, and enrolled at Morgan State University and majored in Business Administration. He earned his Master in Business Administration in Financial Management. It was at Morgan State that Larry met and later married Gwendolyn J. Hoff (1951 – 2014) from Hartford, Connecticut. After graduating college, he played with a farm league for the Houston Astros—the Victoria Rosebuds Minor League Club. He was mentor by the Oakland A’s pitcher Vida Blue and Houston Astros’ J.R. Richards during his time with the Astros farm club.
Larry and Gwen moved to Atlanta in the early 1980’s when Larry was offered a financial management position with IBM where he worked for several years. An entrepreneur at heart, he left corporate America to find ways to put his financial acumen to work on behalf of his local community. Larry soon after entered the world of multi-family residential real estate management. He established the Friendly Hills Development Corporation and dedicated his energies to the development of affordable, multi-family and senior communities. His passion for this work gained him a reputation as an innovator when he created a financing model—in line with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s federal financing guidelines. This housing work was ministry for Larry. As an affordable housing developer, he raised capital by means of tax-exempt bonds and tax credits through public agencies, such as Fulton County Housing Authority and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and gained support of neighborhood, city, county, and state government to build up to $26M developments. His projects included the New Arcadia Downs, the Foundry, Friendly Heights, Friendly Hills and Washington Street Apartments. Larry headed construction of 168 affordable units in Dekalb County, which served as catalyst to develop a major shopping center (Stone Crest Mall) that had been in the planning stages for over 20 years. As a benefit for youth from underinvested communities, Larry and Gwen founded the Hoff-Phillips Foundation. During his career, Larry served on the Georgia Housing & Finance Authority Tax Credit Advisory Board and was a member of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce, Morgan State University Alumni Association, and other business and civic organizations. Larry leaves many loving family members to cherish his legacy and life memories including his daughter, Sonja Phillips Caesar; son-in-love Marcus Caesar; four grandsons: Andre Joshua, Caleb Matthew, Mark Isaiah and Elijah.
