Edward Phillips

Edward H. Phillips III
October 28, 1935 -- March 22, 2021
Edward Harrison Phillips III, the city planner, architectural preservationist, teacher, painter, author, dog lover, devoted husband and father, died on March 22nd at home in Oakland, California. He enjoyed a rich and full life until his last day.

He was born October 28, 1935 in Monterey, California, while his parents Edward and Dorothy Phillips, both Texans, were temporarily living in the state. When he was two, the family moved back to Houston. Later, he lived in Fort Worth with his aunt, Virginia Hudson, and his sister Mary Virginia Phillips DeCleva. He graduated from Arlington Heights High School and then attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where he studied architecture and was a member of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He graduated from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth with a degree in English Literature.

Edward served in the Air Force Reserves for six years and was employed by the Cargill Corporation as an accountant, first in Fort Worth and then Peoria, Illinois. Visiting an old school friend in Chicago, he met Mary Shepard, a teacher originally from Minnesota. They married in Chicago in 1963.

The next year they set out for New York City, where Edward attended graduate school at NYU, earning a master's degree in the new field of Urban Planning. While studying he worked for a planning firm on the Model Cities Program. The couple had two boys, Edward Shepard Phillips, known as Ned, and Owen Terrell Phillips. Edward loved being a New Yorker.

In 1969, the family relocated to California and settled in Berkeley. Edward was hired as an Assistant City Planner for the City of Concord. He worked there for over 20 years, a period of rapid growth, ultimately becoming Planning Director. He also taught classes in public administration at John F. Kennedy University in Orinda and was a dean in the School of Management.

The family moved to Oakland in 1976. Always interested in architectural preservation, Edward was among the first members of the Oakland Heritage Alliance, and he served as its President for two years. He worked on a survey of the city's architecture and he led walking tours of a variety of neighborhoods.

In 1990, he was Principal Planner for the City of Albany where he was instrumental in securing the grant to build the Albany Library. He then became the Planning Director of El Cerrito where he shepherded the city's new General Plan through a lengthy process and oversaw the renewal of El Cerrito Plaza. He continued to consult after retirement, including for the City of Fremont. He was a charter member of the American Planning Association.

Edward was an avid swimmer and bicyclist for many years. He swam morning laps in Oakland public pools, and on weekends, he biked the hills and trails of the East Bay and Marin. Always artistic, he took up painting in retirement. He painted landscapes with a plein air group around Contra Costa and he participated in their exhibitions. He was a skilled watercolorist, working for years with a class in Berkeley. He also took piano lessons and enjoyed recitals with his piano circle. Edward and Mary had the same seats at the San Francisco Symphony for almost 40 years He volunteered at the Berkeley Botanical Garden for ten years. An auto enthusiast, he loved driving his various sports cars around the hills of Northern California.

Writing had always been a key part of his professional life, and in 2013 Edward turned to fiction. He and his writing partner Art Rogers of Dallas co-authored two mystery novels, set in the '70s Bay Area, featuring detective Rex Nickels, What the Owl Saw (2014) and As Seagulls Watched (2016).

Edward enjoyed traveling, especially revisiting New York and exploring the cities and historical sites of Europe. Many years, he and Mary took a long Summer road trip with their beloved Yorkshire Terriers to the small prairie town of Battle Lake, Minnesota, where her family still owns its ancestral home.

Edward is survived by his wife Mary and sons Ned and Owen, daughters-in-law Mary Denavit Phillips and Eliza Gran, as well as five grandchildren, Catherine Rogers and her husband Chris, Emily, Violet, Ruby, and Charles Phillips, as well as five nieces and nephews in Texas.

Mary and Edward were blessed by being partners for fifty seven years of marriage. He was a hero to his sons. He will be remembered by family and friends for his integrity, dry wit, encyclopedic knowledge, patience listening, and creativity--but above all, for his steadfast kindness.