Ramona Gail Phillips (née McIver; May 15, 1944 – March 25, 2021) was the 17th Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives.

Early life and career

Born in

Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

, Phillips graduated from Nome High School, in

Nome, Alaska Nome (; ik, Sitŋasuaq, ) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of Alaska, United States. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. It had a population of 3,699 recorded ...

, in 1962. She then received her bachelor's degree in business education from

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for cla ...

. Phillips was involved in the mining industry. She also owned Quiet Sports Store and managed Wein Air Alaska, Phillips taught business education in Nome, Alaska from 1967 to 1969.

Political career

Phillips served on the

Homer, Alaska Homer ( Dena'ina: ''Tuggeght'') is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is southwest of Anchorage. According to the 2020 Census, the population is 5,522, up from 5,003 in 2010. Long known as the "Halibut Fishing Ca ...

City Council from 1981 to 1984. From 1984 to 1986, Phillips served on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly and was involved with the Republican Party. Phillips served in the

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people per ...

from 1991 to 2001 and was speaker of the house from 1995 to 1999. In 2002, Phillips ran for the election for

Lieutenant Governor of Alaska The lieutenant governor of Alaska is the deputy elected official to the governor of the U.S. state of Alaska. Unlike most lieutenant governors in the U.S., the office also maintains the duties of a secretary of state, and indeed was named suc ...

and lost the election.

Death

Phillips died on March 25, 2021, after a long battle with cancer.

Notes

1944 births 2021 deaths Politicians from Juneau, Alaska University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni Businesspeople from Alaska Educators from Alaska Women state legislators in Alaska Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Alaska city council members Borough assembly members in Alaska Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives Women city councillors in Alaska 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 20th-century American educators 20th-century American women educators Candidates in the 2002 United States elections {{Alaska-politician-stub

Early life and career

Political career

Death

See also

Notes