Sheila Ann Dennett Phillips

ORLANDO, Fla. – Sheila Ann Dennett Phillips, 74, died Thursday Sept. 28, 2023, at the AdventHealth Center in Orlando, Fla. She was a resident of Naples, Fla.

Sheila was born in Rumford, on Sept. 25, 1949, the daughter of Roland and Irene (Roderick) Dennett. She was a 1967 graduate of Dixfield Regional High School, Burdett College and Northeastern University. She was an Administrative Director NCH Community Blood Center in Naples, Florida.

Sheila came to Naples around 1972, met Jim and decided to stay. She began working at Naples Community Hospital (NCH) Lab as a medical technologist. Through the years she was a dedicated med tech and always did her best. She took a particular interest in Transfusion Services (Blood Bank) after a few years and that became her specialty. She was promoted to supervisor and then director. She in large part developed the Community Blood Center (CBC) which is a branch of NCH. A new facility and blood bank department was developed. The donor services and outreach Bloodmobile went all over Collier County to provide blood products to the healthcare providers in Naples. Her technical staff were the local experts and did complicated work-ups to find compatible products for patients in Collier County. She completed her Master’s Degree while working at NCH. She was always available for blood bankers and made many trips in the middle of the night to support them. She would do whatever it took to take care of patients and keep the blood supply safe and available. She maintained the highest standards of education and transfusion services practice, implementing all new protocols as they were invented.

She retired from CBC in 2020 after meticulously training her staff members to carry on.

She had many close friends at NCH and they have happy memories of parties and progressive dinners that the young couples enjoyed with Sheila and Jim.

Sheila was married in Naples, Fla., on Feb. 15, 1975, to Jim T. Phillips who survives of Naples, Fla. Other survivors include her stepchildren Marjorie Finnegan and husband John of Winter Springs, Fla., Teresa McCartney of Meadville, Pa., and Garry Phillips and wife Robin of Belle, Missouri, her brothers Robert Dennett of Coplin Plantation, and Scott Dennett and wife Jamie of Dixfield, nephew, Ryan Dennett and wife Devonshire of Gorham.

Friends and family are invited to share memories with the family at http://www.meaderandson.com.

Funeral services will be held 1 p.m., Saturday Oct. 7, 2023, at the Meader & Son Funeral Home, 3 Franklin Street, Rumford. Interment will be in the Greenwoods Cemetery in Dixfield. Friends and family are invited to call at the funeral home on Friday from 5-8 p.m.

Share your condolences, kind words and remembrances below. You must be logged into the website to comment. Subscribers, please login. Not a subscriber? Register to comment for free or subscribe to support our work.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.