Maj. Philip C. Wright Ret.

Philip Cortez Wright died at age 90 in the early hours of May 9, 2025 at Portsmouth Hospital following a period of ill health. He was born on October 2, 1934 in Dallas, Texas, to Eloise Stanford Wright and James Edwin Wright.
He was married to his beloved wife, Ursula, for sixty years. His eldest grandson, Jarod Cameron Kidd lives with his wife Violeta and their three daughters, Amelia, June and Ruby in York, Maine. Justin Kidd lives in Conway, Arkansas, with his partner Holly and his son Cameron. Philip's death is deeply felt and mourned by close family and many friends.
Philip attended local primary and secondary schools in Dallas. He studied architecture and graduated from Texas A & M University in 1956. Two years later he joined the Air Force to serve and to see the world. Meanwhile he had married a local girl, Mavinee Scott, with whom he had a daughter, Michele (1957-2007). In 1960 while he was assigned to a radar station in the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, his wife Mavinee gave birth to their second daughter, Melissa.
Following a tour at Pope AFB in North Carolina, the Air Force sent Philip back to A & M University whence he graduated in 1964 with an MS in structural engineering. That same year his then ex-wife died tragically in an air plane crash. Philip, not to be daunted, requested a three year tour to Europe. He was assigned to an Engineering Squadron at the Deols Air Base in Chateauroux, France. His arrival as a single dad with a four and a six year-old daughter was unusual then. On the advice of his colonel Philip found a Swiss nanny. They met and married within five months in the spring of 1965 and enjoyed a happy and adventurous marriage.
After a stint in Germany in 1966-7, following General De Gaulle's exit from NATO Philip was reassigned to Hamilton AFB, just north of San Francisco. He knew it would be a jump-off point for duty in Vietnam. Instead, in April 1969 Philip was sent on a 13 months remote tour to Osan, Korea, to build up the infrastructure following the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
The family was reunited in May 1970 in Seattle and traveled from there to Naples, Italy. This was a five-year assignment with NATO's southern command. Philip's duties were to work with a multi nation NATO inspection team and to supervise the building up of bases in Italy, Greece and Turkey. He continued to work for NATO from Ramstein AFB, Germany, for another
three years.
In 1978 Philip retired from the Air Force and began another career. The GI Bill allowed him to take courses at George Washington University, Washington, DC. Together with his wife they began a museum career as curators of the Hill Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut. In 1985 they decided to move closer to Boston. They fell in love with and bought a 1790s center chimney house in Portsmouth's South End. It became an epic restoration project that lasted ten years. Meanwhile, to pay for it all, Philip decided to seek a position as architect with the National Park Service in Lowell, MA. There he honed his design and restoration skills for over ten years, culminating in the establishment of the museum spaces and the restoration of the Agent's
House.
At age 70 Philip decided to retire, travel and learn how to turn wood on his lathe. He created numerous designs on his old CAD program and cut, glued and turned lamp bases, bowls, plates and even some toys over the years. He and his wife spent time between Texas, where his elderly mother still lived as well as two grandsons, and the Seacoast. Together with his wife he created walls and gardens, carrying stones and digging in rocky soil.
Philip loved life, he loved his family, especially the children, and he loved a good movie, a good joke, a good meal and dessert. He loved music, especially Jazz and Gershwin, but he also loved Puccini and Joe Green as we used to say. He was passionate about politics and said that in order to make a better world, he would only vote for women from now on. We will miss him terribly, but he lives in our hearts forever.
Services Will Be Held Privately. In Lieu of Flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Society for the Protection of NH Forests https://www.forestsociety.org/