{"id":30320,"date":"2026-02-10T16:56:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T22:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=30320"},"modified":"2026-02-11T11:21:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:21:46","slug":"betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/","title":{"rendered":"Betty Florine Phillips Elam (97) of Effingham, formerly of Greenville"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>Betty Florine Phillips Elam, 97, of Effingham, Illinois, formerly of Greenville, Illinois, passed away on February 7, 2026 at Heartland Senior Living, Neoga, Illinois.<\/p>\n<p>Betty was born on March 29, 1928 in rural Greenville to Forrest and Wava Merry. She attended Greenville schools graduating from Greenville High School in 1945. As a farmer\u2019s daughter Betty developed a strong work ethic helping out as much as she could. When her father was severely injured in an accident, her mother moved with the children into Greenville into a home across the street from the First Baptist Church. When Betty was a young teenager she made her profession of faith &#8211; a foundation that guided her lifelong devotion to service. During those early years numerous aging family, missionaries, and senior adults were cared for in their home. Betty\u2019s professional life was marked by both steadiness and ambition. After high school Betty and her older sister learned to be telephone operators. Then, Betty became a secretary and worked for businesses in St. Louis, Greenville, and Effingham and later, she built a successful career as the executive secretary for World Color Press in Effingham, for over twenty years. Not one for a quiet retirement, however, Betty chose to reinvent herself; she enrolled in Lake Land College classes and launched a second career as a Real Estate agent. Throughout her life, she remained a devoted daughter, frequently traveling back to Greenville to care for her aging mother. Betty\u2019s faith was the cornerstone of her life. She spent many years teaching Sunday School at First Baptist Church, Effingham, Illinois. Later, she became an active member of New Hope Church and enjoyed her senior adult group Bible studies and activities.<\/p>\n<p>Betty was preceded in death by her first husband, Wayne Edward Phillips, an Air Force veteran of the Korean Conflict; her second husband, Don Elam; her son, Gary Wayne Phillips; and her granddaughter, Charis Phillips Gohil.<\/p>\n<p>She is survived by her son, Doug (Sally) Phillips of Columbia, MO; Grandchildren, Tracy Kitchens, of San Antonio, Texas, Jon Phillips, of Berlin, Germany, Brad (Beth) Phillips, of Nashville, Tennessee, and Brittany Phillips, of Effingham, Illinois. Also, Great Grandchildren, Aaden, Aubrey, and Avery Schoonover, LiLi Phillips, and Finn Phillips.<\/p>\n<p>Funeral services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, February 16, 2026 at Johnson Funeral Home in Effingham, IL. Burial will be in Arborcrest Memorial Park in Effingham. Visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Monday prior to the service at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers and gifts, memorials can be made to Alzheimer\u2019s Foundation of America. Online<br \/>\ncondolences may be shared at www.johnsonandsonsfh.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Betty died on Saturday, February 7<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":30400,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obits"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Betty Florine Phillips Elam (97) of Effingham, formerly of Greenville - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Betty Florine Phillips Elam (97) of Effingham, formerly of Greenville - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-10T22:56:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-11T17:21:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Betty-Elam-Photo-1-crop.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1779\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1672\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Greg Sapp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Greg Sapp\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Greg Sapp\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea4a7a4f3418a551e6319888ef00a8f1\"},\"headline\":\"Betty Florine Phillips Elam (97) of Effingham, formerly of Greenville\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-10T22:56:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-11T17:21:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":445,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Betty-Elam-Photo-1-crop.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Obituaries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\\\/\",\"name\":\"Betty Florine Phillips Elam (97) of Effingham, formerly of Greenville - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Betty-Elam-Photo-1-crop.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-10T22:56:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-11T17:21:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"Effingham's News and Sports Leader\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Betty-Elam-Photo-1-crop.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Betty-Elam-Photo-1-crop.jpg\",\"width\":1779,\"height\":1672},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Betty Florine Phillips Elam (97) of Effingham, formerly of Greenville\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/premier-logo-v1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/premier-logo-v1.png\",\"width\":272,\"height\":69,\"caption\":\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea4a7a4f3418a551e6319888ef00a8f1\",\"name\":\"Greg Sapp\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/greg_sapp\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Betty Florine Phillips Elam (97) of Effingham, formerly of Greenville - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","description":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Betty Florine Phillips Elam (97) of Effingham, formerly of Greenville - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","og_description":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader","og_url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/","og_site_name":"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","article_published_time":"2026-02-10T22:56:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-11T17:21:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1779,"height":1672,"url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Betty-Elam-Photo-1-crop.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Greg Sapp","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Greg Sapp","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/"},"author":{"name":"Greg Sapp","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ea4a7a4f3418a551e6319888ef00a8f1"},"headline":"Betty Florine Phillips Elam (97) of Effingham, formerly of Greenville","datePublished":"2026-02-10T22:56:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-11T17:21:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/"},"wordCount":445,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Betty-Elam-Photo-1-crop.jpg","articleSection":["Obituaries"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/","name":"Betty Florine Phillips Elam (97) of Effingham, formerly of Greenville - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Betty-Elam-Photo-1-crop.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-10T22:56:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-11T17:21:46+00:00","description":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Betty-Elam-Photo-1-crop.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Betty-Elam-Photo-1-crop.jpg","width":1779,"height":1672},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30320-betty-florine-phillips-elam-97-of-effingham-formerly-of-greenville\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Betty Florine Phillips Elam (97) of Effingham, formerly of Greenville"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/","name":"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/premier-logo-v1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/premier-logo-v1.png","width":272,"height":69,"caption":"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ea4a7a4f3418a551e6319888ef00a8f1","name":"Greg Sapp","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/author\/greg_sapp\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Greg Sapp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30320"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30401,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30320\/revisions\/30401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}