Paul Arthur Phillips
Died peacefully Wednesday, July 16, 2008, in Vernon, after a brief
battle with cancer. He was predeceased by his parents Dick and Molly
Phillips and his sister Ruth Phillips. He will be deeply missed by his
wife Donna, daughters Erin and Nicole (Dale), his granddaughters,
Lauren, Danika and Holly, his brothers David (Betty) and Rhys (Tatjana),
brother-in-law Gary, sister-in-law Bobby (Ed), nephews and nieces and
many dear friends especially his honourary family Barb, Mike, Eric,
Jeanette and Colin Angel.
Paul was born November 3^rd , 1938, in Hong Kong, the son of
missionaries. The outbreak of war caused them to return to Canada, to
Victoria where Paul grew up.
A graduate of Mount View High School in Victoria, Paul enjoyed his 50th
high school reunion in 2006. He graduated with a BSc in Chemistry and an
MA in Economics at the University of Saskatchewan. He obtained his PhD
from the London School of Economics in 1967.
A true renaissance man, Paul possessed an incredible variety of passions
and gifts. As a scholar and teacher he wrote numerous books and articles
on a significant range of topics including labour economics and labour
relations, Canadian economic history and political economy, comparative
economic systems and labour-based economies, and Yugoslavia and
transitional economies. In recent years he has focused much of his work
on environmental issues. He was also a dedicated teacher, taking great
satisfaction in working with students and with his colleagues at the
University of Manitoba, where he taught for 34 years and which conferred
on him the honour of Professor Emeritus in 2005. He was also Adjunct
Professor of American Studies at the University of Llubljana in
Slovenia. Much of his academic work and his involvement in political and
community life was motivated by a deep and passionate commitment to
social justice and a profound commitment to speaking for those who are
left out of the economic, political and social conversation.
He had the same passion for his other interests: singing and acting,
sailing, skiing, golfing, polo, gardening, cooking, beer and wine
making, design and carpentry. Perhaps his greatest joy, however, came
from music. A player of many instruments, Paul was active in folk music
since the early ‘60s, sang for thirty years with the Manitoba Opera
Chorus and most recently sang with Aura Chamber Choir and the Vernon
Welsh Men's Choir. So many of his friendships began with a shared love
of music and it was a love he shared with and nurtured in his daughters.
Despite all of his involvement in groups and organizations Paul was an
independent thinker and unafraid to stand apart from a group. He took
risks intellectually and personally and was not afraid to reassess a
position. Yet in more trivial matters like taste in clothes or
television shows he could be absolutely dogmatic and opinionated.
He will be remembered by friends and family for his fundamentally kind
and generous nature, his great capacity for friendship and good humour,
his dreadful puns, his steadfastness in any commitment, his willingness
to stand up for what he believed was right, his curiosity and wide
ranging intellect and his tendency to burst forth in song in just about
any circumstance.
Cremation has taken place. There will be a memorial service Saturday,
August 2, 2008 at the Schubert Centre, 3505 30^th Avenue, Vernon, at
11:00 AM.
Please, no flowers. Donations can be made in his name to the BC Cancer
Agency, Southern Interior, 399 Royal Avenue, Kelowna, V1Y 5L3 or the
Vernon and District Hospice House, 3506 27th Avenue, Vernon, V1T 1S4.
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