Phil, 77, died February 11, 2011, in Medford, Oregon. He graduated from Illinois Valley High School in 1951 and was drafted into the Army in 1953 and served honorably during the Korean War. Phil trained at Cave Junction right out of high school, jumping there in 1951-53 and 1955-56, interrupted by military service. He went to Redding in 1957 to start the smokejumper base there and joined Orv Looper (CJ-49) in 1959 to start the Alaska Smokejumpers in Fairbanks. After finishing there in 1966, Phil ran the Tok Lodge in Tok, Alaska and then built many homes in Fairbanks and North Pole, Alaska. He moved his family to Delta Junction, Alaska, in 1976 to become the fire chief for the Delta Camp during the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. After the pipeline became operational, Phil joined the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company as a safety-fire specialist, from which he retired in 1994.