New London —  Waldren "Pokey" Phillips, a retired judicial marshal and past president of the New London branch of the NAACP, has a lifelong history of protecting others from danger and discrimination.

When a prisoner at the Broad Street courthouse pulled a 9-mm gun out of a shoe and aimed at Phillips' head in 2000, he and other marshals wrestled the gun away from the man, keeping everybody in the courthouse out of harm's way. He was awarded a Silver Star of Bravery by the American Police Hall of Fame and Museum in Miami, Fla.

In 2006, when an African-American nuclear engineer at Electric Boat was attacked by white employees who called him "black boy," physically accosted him and threated to "stuff him in a trash can," Phillips and the NAACP came to his assistance. Five employees were fired in connection with that incident.

Phillips, 61, will receive a lifetime achievement award at the NAACP branch's annual Freedom Fund Dinner on June 29 along with the Rev. Harold E. Montgomery Sr.

However, Phillips said in a phone interview Tuesday that he won't be able to attend, since he is at Yale-New Haven Hospital awaiting a heart donor. The father of five said his daughter Rasheedah Phillips would be accepting the award on his behalf.

Tamara K. Lanier, vice president of the New London NAACP branch and chairwoman of the Freedom Fund Committee, said members decided to honor Phillips after reflecting on Phillips' strength and character and all he had done. She hopes that Phillips can witness the honor via live video feed. 

"We like to give our flowers while people are still around," Lanier said.

As for Phillips' medical challenge, she said, "I told him, 'If anybody can do this, it's you, Pokey. You are one of the toughest, most stubborn people around.'"

Phillips' longtime coworkers at the Geographical Area 10 courthouse on Broad Street, New London, said they miss Phillips, who always made them laugh.  

"Pokey is a true friend," said Judicial Marshal Lt. George Hall, who worked with him for the past 18 years. "Everyone was sad to hear he had to retire. I'm hoping everything works out for him. He deserves this award."

"You couldn't ask for a better partner," said Marshal Ron Johnson, who worked with Phillips for years on the prisoner transportation van. "We always had each other's back. He always knew what I was going to do. I always knew what he was going to do. We could always count on each other."

Phillips said he became involved in the NAACP with his mother and grandmother during his childhood in Philadelphia. He moved to New London at age 18 after being recruited to work at Electric Boat, and stayed for 20 years, leaving as supervisor of the paint department. He became a deputy sheriff in 1994 and stayed on as a judicial marshal when the sheriff system was abolished in 2000.

He said he joined the New London NAACP branch in the early 2000s, worked his way through the ranks and served as its president for two terms. Discrimination complaints often had to be worked out "under the table," Phillips said, because people who felt they were targeted due to their race did not want to go public.

"Discrimination will always have an ugly head somewhere," he said. "It's just like being sexually assaulted. You do this to someone and they feel less than who they are and they're afraid to tell anybody. That's how the person who does the discriminatory act gains his power."

Anyone who discriminates "has got to be out of their minds if I'm around," he said.

Phillips said he is hopeful he'll get a heart transplant and return to his work with the NAACP.

"As soon as I get out of here, I'm going to run back to that organization," he said. "I don't have anything to do, and I won't be sick anymore, and there's a lot of people out there that need that organization."

The theme for the Freedom Fund dinner, "Steadfast and Immovable," represents the goals and initiatives of NAACP branches on a local, state and national level, according to Lanier.

The chapter will bestow community partner awards on The Rev. Carolyn Patierno of the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church and Nekiesha Grant, director of the Opportunities Industrialization Center of New London County. New London girls' basketball coach Holly Misto will receive the community champion award.

The keynote speaker is Gwen Carr, who became an activist after her son Eric Garner died in July 2014 after being placed in an apparent chokehold by a police officer in Staten Island who suspected Garner of illegally selling loose cigarettes. When a grand jury declined to indict the officer involved, people staged "I can't breathe" protests across the country, a reference to his pleas to police just before his death.

k.florin@theday.com

If you go

What: New London NAACP's Freedom Fund Dinner

When: 6-9 p.m. Thursday, June 29

Where: Port 'N Starboard, Ocean Beach Park

Cost: Reservations must be made in advance for the dinner, which is $65 per person or $550 per table. Checks should be made payable to the New London NAACP and mailed to P.O. Box 987, New London, CT 06320.

More information: (860) 439-1423.