George Conoly Phillips was born on December 17, 1931, in Daytona Beach Florida. Phillips was an honor graduate of Maury High School of Norfolk in 1949. He later graduated with his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Georgia in 1953. At the University of Georgia he was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society, and a Cadet Colonel of the Air Force R.O.T.C. He received his MBA degree from Old Dominion University in 1976. He served two years as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. In 1956, Conoly Phillips and his brother, Tench Phillips opened the Phillips Brothers used car dealership. They founded Phillips Brothers Automoville in 1964. The brothers acquired the Rambler franchise in 1960. In 1964, Tench received the Oldsmobile franchise, and Conoly continued with the Lincoln-Mercury franchise. Conoly Phillips was President, and the later chairman, of Conoly Phillips Lincoln-Mercury. He retired from daily management in 1999 when his company merged with Freedom Automotive. He currently remains a partner in Freedom Automotive. Conoly Phillips' was also President of the Tidewater Better Business Bureau in 1967 and 1968, President of the United Drug Abuse Commission from 1970-1976, President of the Northside Rotary Club, First Vice-President of the United Way of Virginia, Member of the Central Budget Committee of the United Communities Fund, Former Representative of the City of Norfolk on the Adult Continuing Education Committee, Vice-President of the Sales and Marketing Executives Club of Tidewater, President of the Tidewater Automobile Dealers Association in 1963 and much more. George Conoly Phillips passed away on April 22, 2020 in Norfolk, Virginia.