Retirement celebration set for July 19 for Dinah Phillips

The Highland County Democratic Party has announced a retirement celebration for longtime party chairperson Dinah Phillips. The celebration will be 2-4 p.m. Sunday, July 19 at the Hi-TEC Center at 1575 North High Street, Hillsboro.

Dinah will be honored for her "50 years of dedication, service and impact."

The community is invited to "celebrate this incredible milestone for Dinah and the amazing journey ahead."

As previously reported, after a half century in leadership roles with the Highland County Democratic Party, Dinah announced her retirement from an active role as the head of the party in May of this year.

She was elected president of the Highland County Democratic Women's Club in 1976 and served continuously until 1999, when she was elected as the chair of the Highland County Democratic Party, succeeding Zelma Furnish. 

Dinah also was elected as the chairman of the Southern Ohio County Chairs Association, which consists of 16 southern Ohio counties, and served in that capacity for 20 years. During that tenure, she met former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, former first lady and Sen. Hillary Clinton, former President Joe Biden, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, and current U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.  

"I have served 50 years, and have enjoyed every minute of that time," Dinah said. "However, there comes a time when you know it's time to let someone else take over the reins. As Judge Richard Davis once told me, 'You'll just know when it's time to resign.' That time has come. I will, of course, continue to be involved in the Party in whatever capacity I'm needed."  

Among the many high-profile campaigns on which Dinah worked and advised candidates included the 1992 election of Ted Strickland to Congress, when he unseated incumbent Republican Bob McEwen in the November 1992 general election to represent Ohio's 6th Congressional District. She also worked to elect Strickland as governor of Ohio in 2006, when he defeated Republican Ken Blackwell. 

When contacted by The Highland County Press, former Congressman and Governor Strickland recalled the first time Dinah Phillips worked on one of his political campaigns.

"I believe Dinah supported me as far back as 1976 when I ran for Congress against Bill Harsha," Strickland said. "She also helped my campaign again in 1978. 

"Politically, Dinah has done so much for me. She's always very energetic. Dinah and Jim are just wonderful people. They are good, caring people who care about the community. The world needs more people like them. Frances and I dearly love Dinah and Jim as friends."

"Dinah has been the face and the heart of the Highland County Democrat Party for many years," Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss said. "She worked tirelessly for many Democratic candidates at the local, state and national level. She is well known throughout Ohio for her dedication to the party.  

"However, she is also very devoted to her husband, Jim, her children, grandchildren and large extended family, as well as her community. She was a very well-respected court reporter for many years, not just in Highland County, but in surrounding counties as well. I am very grateful to have had the privilege of knowing Dinah and her family from the start of my legal career in 1976 and counting her and all of them as good friends. She will be missed, but her legacy in the Democratic Party will endure."

For more on Dinah, go to https://highlandcountypress.com/news/dinah-phillips-face-and-heart-high…

Pictured below are Dinah and Jim Phillips. (Courtesy of Pat Lawrence.)