Born on October 19, 1914 in Connorville, Ohio, Josephine Emily was the daughter of Italian immigrants, Alfonso and Christina (Rossomagno) Molli. The family lived in nearby Bellaire, Ohio. Jo was from a family of five children. She had two sisters, Anna and Rose Marie, as well as two brothers, Patrick and Louis. Anna died as a young child. Rose was a school teacher, and Patrick was a merchant like his father. Louis served as a career Army officer attaining the rank of Colonel, as well as later working for Peoples Drugs as a pharmacist.

Jo earned a B.S. in Education from Ohio State University in 1937 and taught Latin, French, English and typing as a high school teacher in the Columbus, Ohio area. She was an honor student with a grade point average of 3.3. On May 22, 1937, she was initiated into Pi Lamda Theta, honorary educational sorority. As a graduate student, she earned a grade point average of 3.76.

On March 11, 1939, she married Joseph J. Phillips, a fellow Ohio State student, at the Holy Name Catholic Church in Columbus. In 1953, the couple moved with their four children (Joseph, Jr., Louis, Michael and Cristina) from Columbus to Kokomo, Indiana.

Jo played the piano, and her love of music led her to help start a symphony for the City of Kokomo. In the 1950s and prior to the formation of the Kokomo Symphony Orchestra, she helped to bring some noted performers to Kokomo such as Victor Borge and Vronsky & Babin. In those days, performances were held in the Kokomo High School gym--certainly not good acoustically for musical events. But, this was the only facility available.

From 1971-1976, Jo served on the advisory board of the Indiana Symphonette as well as that of the Kokomo Symphonic Society. In 1971, Jo saw her dream of having a symphony come true. What helped to make this possible was the fact that Indiana University's Kokomo Campus had grown to the point that symphonic performances could be held in IU's Havens Auditorium.

Jo also wrote short stories and poems, with some of her poetry being published and copyrighted by The National Library of Poetry. Indeed, Jo's love of words and music will inspire the community, as well as her family, for generations. For this, we owe her thanks.