Obituary for Duane Gordon Philis
Duane Gordon Philis of Neenah passed away at his home on July 23 after a brief illness. Born on July 24, 1926, Mr. Philis passed away one day short of his 95th birthday.
Among family members, friends and colleagues, Mr. Philis was known and loved for his devotion to family, his quiet sense of dignity and his keen intelligence.
Born in Harvey, North Dakota, Mr. Philis moved with his family to Neenah in the early 1940s. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in World War II (1944), specializing in Radio Communications, and was sent to the Pacific Ocean Theater. His ship was torpedoed but he survived.
Mr. Philis entered the University of North Dakota (UND), majoring in commerce and law, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1952 from the College of Business and Public Administration. He went on to earn a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tulsa in 1954. Mr. Philis practiced law in Tulsa until 1958, whereupon he returned to Neenah and became a City Attorney and Judge. Retiring in his early fifties, Mr. Philis became an independent consultant for his brother-in-law’s right-of-way agency, Telemark Resources, of Oberlin, Ohio.
Mr. Philis established the Duane G. Philis Endowment for UND, benefitting the priority needs of the University.
An avid athlete throughout his entire life, Mr. Philis was a diver, swimmer and sailor in his own self-built sailboat. He was a long-standing member of the Twin Cities Masonic Lodge, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Neenah-Menasha YMCA.
Mr. Philis was preceded in death by his parents, Alma (Hendrickson) Philis and Nicholas George Philis; his sisters Mildred Stein and Helen Swendseid; and his niece, Gretchen (Stein) Stevenson. He is survived by nieces and nephews Thomas S. Stein of Neenah; Kay (Swendseid) Tabakov of Stockholm, Sweden; Margaret Swendseid of Oberlin, Ohio; Eric Swendseid of Accord, New York; and Nickolas and Peter Swendseid of Oberlin, Ohio. He is also survived by his grand nieces and nephews Alexis Vladimir Tabakov, Jennifer (Stein) Ferry and Tamara Stein, as well as Honor, Madeleine and Callum Stevenson.
Among family members, friends and colleagues, Mr. Philis was known and loved for his devotion to family, his quiet sense of dignity and his keen intelligence.
Born in Harvey, North Dakota, Mr. Philis moved with his family to Neenah in the early 1940s. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in World War II (1944), specializing in Radio Communications, and was sent to the Pacific Ocean Theater. His ship was torpedoed but he survived.
Mr. Philis entered the University of North Dakota (UND), majoring in commerce and law, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1952 from the College of Business and Public Administration. He went on to earn a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tulsa in 1954. Mr. Philis practiced law in Tulsa until 1958, whereupon he returned to Neenah and became a City Attorney and Judge. Retiring in his early fifties, Mr. Philis became an independent consultant for his brother-in-law’s right-of-way agency, Telemark Resources, of Oberlin, Ohio.
Mr. Philis established the Duane G. Philis Endowment for UND, benefitting the priority needs of the University.
An avid athlete throughout his entire life, Mr. Philis was a diver, swimmer and sailor in his own self-built sailboat. He was a long-standing member of the Twin Cities Masonic Lodge, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Neenah-Menasha YMCA.
Mr. Philis was preceded in death by his parents, Alma (Hendrickson) Philis and Nicholas George Philis; his sisters Mildred Stein and Helen Swendseid; and his niece, Gretchen (Stein) Stevenson. He is survived by nieces and nephews Thomas S. Stein of Neenah; Kay (Swendseid) Tabakov of Stockholm, Sweden; Margaret Swendseid of Oberlin, Ohio; Eric Swendseid of Accord, New York; and Nickolas and Peter Swendseid of Oberlin, Ohio. He is also survived by his grand nieces and nephews Alexis Vladimir Tabakov, Jennifer (Stein) Ferry and Tamara Stein, as well as Honor, Madeleine and Callum Stevenson.