Local attorney, sports broadcaster, dies at 65

Cape Girardeau attorney and longtime high school sports radio announcer Kevin Phillips died Saturday at Saint Francis Medical Center. He was 65 years old.

His cause of death was not disclosed.

A Cape Girardeau native, Phillips graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 1977 and went on to earn a law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law in 1981. While at Southeast, he was president of the university's Student Government Association and also chaired the school's Homecoming Steering Committee.

After receiving his law degree, he established a solo family law practice on Independence Street in Cape Girardeau.

In addition to his law practice, Phillips did play-by-play high school and college sports broadcasting for a number of years on several area radio stations. He could often be heard broadcasting football, basketball and baseball games for Jackson, Sikeston, Notre Dame, Chaffee and Scott City high schools. He also did play-by-play broadcasts for Southeast baseball and women's basketball games for several years during the 1970s and 1980s.

"He was fun to listen to and always brought a high energy to his play-by-play," said Mike Renick, general manager at Mississippi River Radio, which operates several stations that carried some of Phillips' broadcasts. "He had a great passion for high school sports."