Phillip W. "Phil" Farmer

1938 - 2018

Phillip W. "Phil" Farmer
08/30/1938 - 10/28/2018
Indialantic, FL - Phillip W. "Phil" Farmer, longtime Indialantic resident and loving husband,father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, and friend, passed away peacefully on Sunday,October 28 with his family by his side. Phil was born August 30, 1938, in Goldsboro, North Carolina to Sally (Barfield) and Paul Farmer. He grew up in Goldsboro and graduated from
Goldsboro High School in 1956. With the aid of academic scholarships, Phil attended Duke
University and earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 1960.
In his senior year at Duke, Phil was recruited by General Electric to join its Financial Management program. He was sent to Schenectady, NY and it was there that he met and married his beloved wife of 56 years, Jean McDonald Farmer. Phil's career with G.E. took off with promotions taking him from Schenectady to New York City, Princeton, NJ, Sudbury, MA, Schenectady again, and finally to Daytona Beach, FL. Along the way came two sons (Stephen and Jeffrey) and a daughter (Jennifer). In 1982, Phil joined Harris Corporation to serve as V.P. and G.M. of one of its Government Systems divisions generating another move, this time to Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, NY. Two years in NY were followed by a move to Orlando and Phil and Jean finally settled in the Melbourne area in 1986. Phil served as the VP of Harris's Palm Bay operations, President of the Government Systems Sector, President of the Semiconductor Sector, Executive VP of Harris, President and Chief Operating Officer, and finally in 1995 Chairman, President, and CEO of Harris Corporation, a position from which he retired in 2003. Phil was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Vulcan Materials Company, George Weston, LTD, and AuthenTec, Inc. Throughout his career, Phil served in a number of national leadership positions. He is a past chairman of the Manufacturers Alliance, a national association of more than 500 manufacturing companies. For fifteen years he served on the Board of Governors of the Aerospace Industries Association and is a former member of the Defense Policy Advisory Committee on Trade, a select group of CEO's serving in an advisory role to the U.S. Secretary of Defense. Phil's passion for philanthropy led to work with the King Center for the Performing Arts where he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Health First Foundation, and the Brevard Zoo. He joined the Florida Tech Board of Trustees in 1994 and served as Chairman from 2007-2009 and 2012-2017. His work with Florida Tech led to the construction of Farmer Hall, a residence hall named in his honor and the Farmer Scholar program which rewards exceptional Florida students by covering all tuition and university fees. Florida Tech awarded Phil with an Honorary Doctor of Science in 1999 and the President's Medal in 2008. Phil was an avid golfer and passed that love to his children. In 2000, he was honored by Golf Digest as the 10th ranked CEO golfer in the World and in his later years, routinely shot his age. He cherished his time with fellow members at RedStick Golf Club and Harbour Town Golf Links. Phil had a lifelong love of automobiles and he enjoyed traveling to auto shows, especially the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Upon retirement, he was able to travel the world with Jean, often taking friends and family along to share the experiences. He was an avid sports fan, a voracious reader, and had a passion for education that was instilled in him at an early age by his mother. Known as P-Dub (short for his initials PW) by his grandchildren, Phil loved spending time with family and friends at homes in Indialantic and Hilton Head Island. Phil is survived by his beloved wife Jean, his three children Stephen (Carol) Ormond Beach, FL, Jeffrey (Maureen) Duluth, GA, Jennifer (Jaimie) Indialantic, FL. Eight grandchildren (Ryan,Adam, Logan, Kevin, Dean, Megan, Dorsey, Jake), and one great grandchild (Bentley). He is also survived by his 4 brothers, Carl, Michael, Lin and Tony and their families. A memorial service will be held at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Indialantic, FL on Friday, November 16th at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Health First Foundation (www.hf.org) Florida Tech (www.fit.edu), or the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org). Arrangements are being handled by Davis Seawinds Funeral Home, Melbourne FL