CHARLOTTE - Ronald Henry Phillips passed away September 25, 2018. He was born in Gastonia on August 11, 1949 to the late John L. and Margaret Miller Phillips. He graduated from Frnk L. Ashley High School class of 1967. He was named a tri-captain for the 1966-67 basketball team at old Ashley High School in Gastonia, he knew the significance of that honor.

In 1967, the Ashley High School in Gastonia, North Carolina won the 4A state basketball championship..This win was historic as it was the first NCHSAA title won by a team with five African-American starters. The Ashley High School team, known as the Green Wave, also won the city's first basketball championship, the school's first conference title in six years, and claimed the state championship.