(Radio Iowa) – The superintendent of a small, southern Iowa school district based in Humeston has died of Covid, two days after the death of his father. The Des Moines Register was first to report that the Mormon Trail School District had announced on Facebook that Superinendent Kerry Phillips “lost his battle with Covid” on Sunday. According to an online obituary, Phillips was a native of Ottumwa and died at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City. He was 61.

Phillips had worked as an educator at Indian Hills Community College, Simpson College, Buena Vista University, and in the Cardinal and Harmony School Districts. Phillips had been Mormon Trail’s superintendent since the start of the 2017 academic year. His 85-year-old father died Friday at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics according to an online obituary that does not list a cause of death.

Gene Phillips owned and operated Phillips Sanitation in Ottumwa for nearly 50 years before retiring in 1998. The obituary for Kerry Phillips indicates he has been owner/operator of the family business.