Brice R. Phillips, founder of Phillips Seafood, died at the age of 90 today.
Brice was a role model to not only his family, but to the employees who worked for the popular seafood restaurant company that grew out of humble beginnings in Ocean City, Maryland.
Brice and Shirley, his wife and partner in founding Phillips Seafood, were both natives of Hooper’s Island, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay. Brice and Shirley started Phillips Crab House in 1956, and it soon transformed from a "crab shack" to a restaurant seating 1,200 and covering one square block.
Brice is survived by his childhood girlfriend and wife of 68 years, Shirley, sons Stephen and Jeffrey, daughters-in-law Maxine and Janet, 8 grandchildren, and 4 great grandchildren.
His restaurant group has grown over the past 55 years to include 19 Phillips restaurants and as well as a line of retail products under the Phillips Seafood brand name and seafood products for the foodservice industry. The hallmark of their growth came in 1980 with the opening of Phillips in Baltimore at the Inner Harbor. Brice and Shirley were touted in national magazines from USA Today to the Baltimore Sun, Washington Post & The New York Times.
Brice received numerous awards over the years including a Doctorate of Hospitality from the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; the title of 2008 Citizen of the year from the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce; and the honor of Restaurant Association of Maryland Restaurateur of the Year.
His life will be celebrated by those who knew him best and the many whose lives he touched when they dined or worked in his restaurants.
