M. Raymond Phillips of East Quogue died on May 22, 2019, at the Westhampton Care Center.
Born in East Quogue in 1923 to J. Norman Phillips and wife Frieda E. Dieckman, he graduated from Westhampton Beach High School in 1942. He attended the New York State Maritime Academy, graduating in the fall of 1944 with an ensign commission in the U.S. Navy and a third mates license in the Merchant Marine.
During World War II, he sailed with Grace and United Fruit Steamship Lines in the South Pacific, North Atlantic and Mediterranean areas. After the war he continued his seafaring career for another six years, retiring with an unlimited master mariner license, allowing him to work aboard merchant vessels of unlimited gross tonage on all of the oceans of the world and reflecting the highest level of professional qualification among mariners and deck officers.
After he retired from the sea, he went into the family real estate business—the fourth generation—on Main Street in East Quogue.
He married Marian Lyba of Quogue and Brooklyn on September 12, 1954, and enjoyed 65 years of marriage.
They retired from the real estate business in 1997 and spent most of their time at their home in the Bitterroot Mountains of Western Montana.
Mr. Phillips greatly enjoyed sailing his SS No. 50 on Shinnecock Bay and, following his family traditions, was an avid duck hunter into his early eighties.
A visitation will be held on Saturday, June 1, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Werner-Rothwell Funeral Home in Westhampton Beach. Burial will follow on June 2 at noon at Oakwood Cemetery in East Qugoue.
on May 27, 2019