David C. Phillips
David Charles Phillips was born on October 17, 1936 in Bridgeport, Connecticut to Esther Lillian Dalton and Charles Joseph Phillips. Displaying an early penchant for leading the way, David convinced his mother after the birth of his only sibling, a boy, that the new member of the household should be named after his favorite cartoon character Donald Duck. Donald and his wife reside in Ocean Pines, Maryland.
David moved with his family to Stratford, Connecticut at age two and was a graduating member of Stratford High School's Class of 1954. There, he played varsity baseball, ran cross-country and was a top student who led his senior class as President.
After graduating high school, David attended Williams College ('58). David was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in his junior year, elected president of Gargoyle (the Williams College senior honor society) and graduated Magna Cum Laude with highest honors in History. "I went straight from Williamstown to Cambridge and three years at the Harvard Law School along with about 16 other classmates. Each summer of the paper chase, I begged or borrowed a ride to the West Coast to see what I had been missing during those long New England winters. I found San Francisco the first trip, helped build cold and windy Candlestick Park the second and worked my way to the Orient on a Norwegian freighter the third. After law school, it was natural to move to San Francisco. I did so in June 1961. For many years since then I resided on the side of a hill in a 100-year-old house in Sausalito just across the Golden Gate Bridge with a full view of the Bay and the City."
"I have been a trial lawyer from the start. From an admiralty (maritime) practice I moved on to general civil litigation to a specialty in entertainment law - mostly in the music/recording industry. I represented one of the country's leading rock' n roll promoters, Bill Graham, and music performers Santana, Journey, John Lee Hooker, and the family of Jerry Garcia in a successful trial which was featured in a documentary on national television for NBC's Dateline/National/court TV series."
One of David's most endearing qualities has been his devotion to his friends. Outside of his thriving law practice, David was dedicated to nurturing friendship bonds going back to his grammar school days. David and Lore Sommer were married in June 1976 in Bolinas, California, and have lived in Sausalito for more than 40 years. Parkinson's disease stole precious time from his life. Lore promised David they would always be together. David passed at home on August 28, 2019 with his wife and daughter by his side. He is survived by his wife Lore; his daughter Akisha Jones (V. H.); his granddaughter Aurora Wassmuth (Christoph); his brother Donald Phillips (Janet); his nieces Cynthia Phillips (John Patrick Campbell and children Kellen and Brady Campbell) and Wendy McLaughlin (Barney); his nephew Scott Phillips (Shannon and children Julia, Caroline and Tessa) and two furry friends, Annie and Bella.
A Memorial Service will be held at 3:30pm on October 17, 2019 at Fernwood Funeral Home, 301 Tennessee Valley Road, Mill Valley, CA 94941.
Those who wish to make a donation in David's memory are encouraged to consider www.breadandroses.org

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Connecticut Post on Oct. 5, 2019.

Memories and Condolences
for David Phillips

Sponsored by Fernwood Funeral Home Cemetery & Crematory.

7 Entries

William Kerr

September 28, 2020

It's been a year now and I feel no less moved to remember David, from early on in childhood in Stratford and after
throughout the changing times of two centuries. Rest in peace. Mein Mitgefühl für Lore.

March 18, 2020

I will always miss David. He hired me and I loved working for him. My husband and I loved David and Lore and their dog. He loved walking his dog.

Truly,

Colleen Davis and Jim Kelly

Gail Conners

Sent Flowers

Gail & Chuck Conners

October 13, 2019

Friends Forever

ROBERT LOMBARD

October 7, 2019

Barbara & Bob Lombard David is a great friend and we will miss him.

Bill Kerr

October 6, 2019

David and I were in grade school in Stratford and we played Little League baseball. He pitched and I caught --- most of the time. Only last week I was looking through yearbooks and saw us sitting next to each other on the high school baseball team.

When I moved to the Bay area in 67 he was a grand guide and took us on tours and invited us to the Sausalito house. Later he did many favors for me as a friend, out of generosity and, perhaps in some way, out of devotion to the accident of sharing a past.

I think he was happy and had a productive life, and reminded me always of the virtues of stability and intelligence and clarity and humor in life.

He will live long in my memory. My sympathies to Lore.

Bill Kerr ([email protected])

Gail Conners

October 5, 2019

David's devotion to his friends cannot be overstated. For Gail it goes back to Stratford High School debate club and continued for years when they reconnected in California. Chuck met David in the nineteen seventies and they became joyful witnesses of rites of passage of Lore and David.
We were privileged to be with David and Lore recently shortly before he lost the race with Parkinson's disease. Once again we had joyful moments recalling high school antics. Most importantly we witnessed the profound devotion that Lore gave to David throughout his days with the disease. And time remembered is grief forgotten.
CHUCK AND GAIL CONNERS

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