Phil passed away suddenly May 3, 2007.
He was born in Salt Lake City and graduated from Carleton majoring in chemistry. Phil continued his studies in Göttingen, Germany. It was there he met his future wife, Marie-Laure. They were married in Geneva in 1968 and had two children, Caitlin and Duncan. Later, Phil and Marie-Laure moved back to Salt Lake City and obtained a Ph.D. in chemical physics from the University of Utah.
His career took him throughout the West – Richland, WA; Ft. Collins, CO, where he taught chemistry at Colorado State; and San Diego, where he co-founded Pacific Analytical, a company that specializes in environmental analysis. While in California, he earned his pilot’s license and flew his family for many adventures in his beloved Cessna Cardinal.
In 1993, nostalgic for the mountains and four-season Colorado weather, Phil and his family moved back to the Ft. Collins area. At the time of his death, he was the director of Macromolecular Resources at Colorado State.
An avid skier and hiker and an expert fly-fisherman, Phil felt nowhere more at home than above timberline, watching wildlife, observing developing storms, and above all, breaking his own trail to some unknown ridge or unnamed peak. He was a mountain goat of a man, approaching play, work, and family life in a heads-on, yet graceful kind of way. He lived simply but fully – for mountain adventures, severe weather, good beer, and the sense of accomplishment he found through science.
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Phil and I were roommates for three years. I still vividly remember his whoop of excitement when he learned he’d been admitted to study at Göettingen. He was a wonderful friend and a joyous companion.
Richard (Rick) Haynes ’66
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Phil and I were roommates for three years. I still vividly remember his whoop of excitement when he learned he'd been admitted to study at Goettingen. He was a wonderful friend and a joyous companion.