Modest-living Minneapolis welder leaves nearly $1 million to Gillette Children’s hospital in St. Paul

The man wore blue jeans and work boots, worked as a welder, drove a 2010 Chevy Silverado pickup truck, lived modestly in a small house in northeast Minneapolis and harbored an astonishing secret.

No one realized he was the millionaire next door, with an estate worth $1.7 million.

When Dean S. Phillips — who never married and had no children — died at 68 on or about April 20, 2021, he left the bulk of his money to Gillette Children’s in St. Paul.

Why Gillette?

It appears that Phillips, a master welder who worked for 26 years at Caterpillar Paving Projects in Brooklyn Park until his retirement in 2017, had a co-worker whose child had been treated at Gillette, said Leona Fitzmaurice, Phillips’ older sister. “They were very appreciative of the treatment.”

Phillips named Gillette Children’s Foundation as the beneficiary of his 401(K) account — an account that was worth more than $1 million at the time of his death, said Fitzmaurice, who lives in Birmingham, Ala.

Phillips apparently reached out to Gillette officials in 2016 and asked for the foundation’s tax identification number, she said.

“They had a record that he had contacted them and had asked what was necessary to name Gillette as a beneficiary,” she said. “We found a note (after he died) from Gillette that thanked him for his inquiry.”

Gillette officials were stunned to learn the news, said Stephen Bariteau, the hospital’s executive vice president and chief philanthropy officer.

“Isn’t it a wonderful and crazy story? That some co-worker said something about Gillette, and Dean either was so moved or was in the right place at the right time … and decided to be wonderfully generous to a place that didn’t touch him personally,” Bariteau said.

Grew up near Grand Rapids

Phillips grew up on 310 acres of “mostly wild land” in Splithand Township, about 18 miles south of Grand Rapids. His parents, Clair and Norma, ran a wildflower and wild plants nursery called Orchid Gardens, which primarily operated as a mail-order business, Fitzmaurice said.

The couple had four children: Leona, Carl, Jim and Dean.

The four children of Clair and Norma Phillips of Splithand Township, Minnesota: Leona and Carl at left, and Jim and Dean at right. Dean, the youngest, is lower right. (Courtesy of Leona Fitzmaurice)

Dean was an incredible artist who, even as a young child, loved creating sculptures and drawing. “He had a talent way beyond his years,” his sister said. “In everything he did, he was very particular. He could do almost anything with his hands. He started out in clay, moved to metal and then explored other things as well. He loved woodworking.”

Phillips loved the outdoors, excelled in school, and spent his free time designing and building cars, according to Fitzmaurice. “He would buy these Volkswagen Bugs that were pretty much on their last leg, and he’d strip them all the way down and rebuild them,” she said.

He attended Itasca Junior College in Grand Rapids, where he developed an aptitude for welding, a skill that he practiced first in the shipyards of Duluth and Superior, Wis., and then later in several small companies in the Twin Cities, she said.

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Phillips joined Caterpillar Paving Products in 1991 where he worked as a master welder and member of a team that constructed custom-designed equipment, she said.

Phillips restored his house in Northeast Minneapolis, which was built in 1910.

His other main hobby: restoring vintage Harley-Davidson motorcycles. His fully restored 1947 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead won awards during his lifetime; it’s now at Vanilla Cycles in Carrington, N.D., she said.

“He liked movies that were really challenging – movies that really made you think,” she said. “He typically did not read fiction or novels. He had bookshelves full of art books, woodworking books, motorcycle books. He loved Georgia O’Keefe; he thought she was absolutely fantastic.”

Lived frugally, died alone

Fitzmaurice said she and her siblings had no idea their brother “was quietly accumulating such a degree of wealth.”

“He lived very frugally and directed that most of his Caterpillar pension be paid into his 401(k) account,” she said.

Neighbors of Phillips called police after noticing that there had not been any movement at his house for several days in April 2021. Police conducted a welfare check and found him in his upstairs bedroom, she said.

Phillips suffered from depression and chronic pain caused by the degeneration of discs in the lumbar region of his spine. They determined he died of suicide.

“We deeply grieve Dean’s death, and we believe that such a suicide could have been prevented,” family members wrote in his obituary. “Our society still stigmatizes mental illness. While Dean might still have accomplished his goal of ending his life prematurely, it is possible that he would be alive today had his illness been identified and treated.”

Phillips’ $962,000 bequest to Gillette is being used to help provide 12 additional exam rooms and one large treatment room to increase the hospital’s capacity to provide care to more patients at the St. Paul campus, Bariteau said.

It’s part of a $7 million expansion project that also will provide “three research spaces to enhance Gillette’s patient- and family-informed research programs,” he said.

Construction started last month and is expected to be completed in October.

A plaque in Phillips’ honor will be erected in the expansion, he said.

“I’ve been doing this a long time now, and it is always amazing to me the surprise and unknown gifts that come in,” Bariteau said. “You never know the full impact of your organization. Despite how hard we try or want to know, there are people who are just going to do wonderful things anonymously or secretly, and this is just one of those examples where Dean was doing good. He wasn’t looking for praise or glory or anything about it, but he knew he needed to do something good, and he happened to choose our organization. It’s just amazing.

“The generous spirit of individuals is alive and well, and it comes through this way. There is something special, really, about the quiet givers.”

Suicide prevention information

If you need help: If you are in crisis, call 988 or text “Hello” to 741-741 for free, 24/7 support from the Crisis Text Line. Or, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
If you want to help: Five steps to help others as well as yourself at Take5tosavelives.org.
Please stay: Read survivor stories at Livethroughthis.org: “Our stories can save lives. You are not alone. Please stay.”
Local resources: More local resources at Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) at Save.org.