Philip Reid Livingston

1920 - 2014

Philip Reid Livingston, husband of Elizabeth McCandless Livingston, died peacefully on Oct, 23, 2014, in Berea, KY, where he had recently moved to be with his family. Phil was born November 7, 1920, in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Wayne, PA, where he attended Radnor High School. After graduating from Cornell University in 1942, he was commissioned as a Captain in the U. S. Army Air Force Air Transport Command and stationed in Accra, Africa and later Washington, D. C., where he enjoyed organizing the transport of U. S. Generals and President Roosevelt. After the war, Phil returned to Wayne, PA, where he served as Vice President of Doremus & Co Advertising Agency and later as a Vice President at First Union Bank (Wachovia), from which he retired in 1996. Phil's love of music led him to perform with the Wayne Footlighters and the Savoy Company, where he met the woman who would become his wife of 54 years. He studied oil painting under Philadelphia artist John Formicola and, after losing his vision due to Macular Degeneration, sculpture at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Accessible Programs Forms in Art. There he received an award to continue his studies at The Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. In retirement, Phil also volunteered with the Delaware Valley Association for Macular Diseases as a board member and leader of the Main Line support group and help line. He inspired others dealing with the disease with his determination to adapt to and make the most of being blind. Phil was preceded in death by his parents, Mabel Howell Livingston and Alfred Livingston, as well as his brother Wendell Livingston and sisters Janet Livingston and Bea Livingston. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth (Betsy), of Berea KY; his son Reid Livingston and daughter-in-law Lisa Bosley of Berea KY; his daughter Amanda Livingston Curtis and son-in-law Charles P. Curtis of Wellesley, MA, and four grandchildren: Ben Livingston, Cora Livingston, Charlie Curtis, Jr., and Lily Curtis. Memorial gifts may be made to the Association for Macular Diseases.