Seaman, poet, activist, friend. Born July 24, 1924, in Halifax, N.S.; died on Aug. 6, 2016, in Belleville, Ont., of lung disease, aged 92.
Phil was the first child born to Edith and Algernon in Halifax in July, 1924. When he was 4, Phil and his younger sister Connie lost their dad and Edith was left to raise two children alone.
Life was challenging. At the age of 9, Phil was responsible for generating some of the family income. And so, after school he became both paper boy and delivery person.
When the Second World War was declared, Phil was 15 and working after school for Pickard and Black, a Halifax steamship company. Too young to enlist, he worked in the dockyards until, at 18, he was old enough to sign on as assistant purser with a Merchant Navy ship, the Lady Nelson. That decision changed Phil's life. His time at sea included 52 crossings of the Atlantic ferrying casualties back from the front.
His journal writings and dozens of personal poems penned while at sea speak of the horrors of war with an expressive tone that is remarkably mature. The war years had a deep impact on Phil and laid the groundwork for his belief that life was a series of battles to be won.
Following the war, Phil went to work at Imperial Oil in Halifax where he met Phyllis. The two married and in the years that followed became parents to Pamela and Carolyn. Phil was a loving and playful father, who nurtured his children with liberal amounts of storytelling, board games and lots of dancing. He shared an endless series of quotations from poets, philosophers and novelists – all of which he had committed to memory in those long days and nights aboard ship. In 1967, Phil and his family relocated to Toronto. During this time, Phil took on a variety of leadership roles in national business associations.
He was known for his eloquent speeches and submissions to newspapers and business publications, ever the feisty champion for a cause.
After retirement, Phil and Phyllis moved to Belleville, Ont., and became fully engaged in the community. In his later years, fighting for what he thought was right became a sacred calling. Phil found the best way to win was to use his pen, his Underwood typewriter and later, his computer.
He crafted over 500 letters to the editor: At times the letters were full of flowery language and strong opinion, uncompromising in their views and notably singular in their perspective and intent. And yet, his carefully crafted prose continued to be published.
He was perhaps best known for his part in seeking to win recognition for Merchant Navy veterans. After a decade of lobbying the federal government, the efforts of Phil and a handful of other aging veterans was finally successful, with full recognition granted Senate approval in 1999.
In his final years, Phil moved to a retirement home and then, finally a nursing home. He gained a reputation for his poetic recitations, his lighthearted humour and his frequent and clever turn of a phrase.
As his own narrative was reaching its end, he turned his focus outward, seeking on many occasions to help others win points for their causes.
Carolyn Ketcheson is Phil's daughter.