C. GORHAM PHILLIPS

PHILLIPS--C. Gorham (Doc), 90, of Vero Beach, FL, died peacefully on December 8, 2011, of heart failure. Mr. Phillips was the son of Margaret Cook Atwell and Charles Swayne Phillips of Montclair, NJ, where Mr. Phillips was born and resided until his retirement. He attended the Montclair public schools and graduated from Williams College in 1943 where he was president of Phi Beta Kappa and winner of the Dewey Award for excellence. In 1942, he married his high school sweetheart, Martha Belden, and served from 1943 through 1946 in the Army Air Corps. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1948 and established a thriving career at the prominent New York law firm of Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood (now Dewey & LeBoeuf), retiring in 1990 as Chairman of the Management Committee. As a young attorney, he worked closely with Governor Thomas E. Dewey and helped develop some of his firm's most prominent clients, including American Can Company, Sinclair Oil Corporation, and Continental Oil Company. In his final decade at Dewey he worked with his partner, Joseph Califano, and others on the implementation of the long-term strategy that has helped propel Dewey & LeBoeuf to the top rank of international firms. He is survived by his wife and four children: Webster B. Phillips, of Montclair; Charles G. Phillips III, of Manhattan; Tacey P. Carroll, of Bronxville, NY; and Tyler A. Phillips of Sonoma, CA; ten grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. In retirement, Mr. Phillips served as Class Agent for the Williams Alumni Fund, winning five consecutive awards for highest participation. He was a skilled public speaker whose presentations always reflected his wonderful sense of humor. His appreciation of humor led him to compile several anthologies of his favorite jokes. He was a trustee of the Montclair Golf Club and the Riomar Club, the Kimberley School, and the Montclair Art Museum, and served on many civic and corporate boards. After his retirement, Mr. Phillips continued his interest in stamp collecting, earned master points in bridge, wrote reminiscences for friends and family, and, with his wife, was an avid traveler. He was a master needle pointer, whose projects included making the cushion that is on the main altar at Westminster Abbey and, with colleagues, the kneeler for the Dean of St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Memorial gifts may be sent to Indian River Medical Center Foundation, 1000 36th St., Vero Beach, FL 32960.