He was born in Baltimore in 1925, the son of Charles L. and Gladys R. Phillips. The elder Phillips was chairman and CEO of Baltimore-based USF&G. Mrs. Phillips began vacationing at The Wentworth House in Kennebunk Beach with her parents in the early 1900s. It was the beginning of a family tradition. Her husband shared her fondness for Kennebunk Beach, and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren either live here or return every summer.
Brian graduated from Calvert School and Gilman School in Baltimore, and received a bachelor of science degree from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., before serving with the Navy in the Atlantic and the Pacific during World War II, attaining the rank of lieutenant (j.g.) before his honorable discharge from the Naval Reserves in 1961. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Dartmouth College in 1949, majoring in his beloved history.
He met Doris “Dodie” Crashley, a Canadian, in Kennebunk in the summer of 1949, and they were married the following year. She is now a U.S. citizen. Their first home was in Seattle, where he was employed by McCollister Campbell, a general insurance agency.
They moved to Oakville, Ontario, and for 25 years, he owned and operated Brian Phillips Chevrolet- Oldsmobile and predecessor dealerships in neighboring Mississauga. He was a member of the national dealership councils of both Ford and General Motors, and president of the Ford and GM dealership associations of Toronto.
He was a Kennebunk businessman and civic leader who lived in Kennebunk Beach since 1977 and vacationed there since he was a child. The treasurer and co-owner of Port Hardware from 1980 to 1994, he also developed and owned Firehouse Place, a commercial building in Lower Village.
Active in the community, Phillips had been a member of the Kennebunk Zoning Board of Appeals since 1979, serving as chairman during most of his years on the board. He was also a member of the Republican Town Committee, a former president and treasurer of the Brick Store Museum, a past treasurer and governor of Webhannet Golf Club, a former president and lifetime trustee of Edgcomb Tennis Club, and a founding member of Arundel Paddle Tennis Club.
He had played golf at Webhannet since his youth, and had been a member since 1959. He and Warren Wentworth, a native of Kennebunk and former treasurer of the club, won the annual men’s invitational member-guest golf tournament in 1957.
Phillips is survived by: his loving wife of 66 years, Doris Phillips; two daughters, Wendy Barrett of Toronto and Tracy Phillips of Kennebunk; two sons, Scott of York and Christopher of Rockville, Maryland; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 24, at South Congregational Church, 2 North St., Kennebunkport, with Rev. Charles Whiston and Rev. Joan Mabon co-officiating. Interment with military honors will follow in Hope Cemetery, Kennebunk.
Should friends choose, memorial donations in his name are encouraged to: Animal Welfare Society, P.O. Box 43, West Kennebunk, ME 04094.
Arrangements are in care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer St., Kennebunk, ME 04043. To share a message of condolence, please visit Brian’s Book of Memories page at bibberfuneral.com.
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