- Buchanan, Philip Edward 42 2/22/1967 3/2/2009 Philip Edward Buchanan died on Monday, March 2, 2009, in Portland. He was born in Hanover, N.H., on George Washington's birthday, Feb. 22, 1967. He attended Edison School in Appleton, Gerritts Junior High in Kim-berly, and Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wis. He was a 1990 graduate of The Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he met his life partner, his dearest Wendy Thomas. Following college, he secured a single engine commercial pilot's license for both land and sea at Hillsboro Helicopters in Oregon. His passion was float planes, and he spent many hours flying around both the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. After moving to Wisconsin, he was employed by Fox River Paper Company in Appleton in the human resources department, and was transferred to Housatonic, Mass., where its Rising Paper division was located. Once there, Phil decided to pursue his dream of building custom furniture, and apprenticed himself to Peter Thorne of West Stockbridge, Mass. Later, he set up his own shop in Housatonic, where he built beautiful pieces of furniture. Phil also served on the town library committee and was instrumental in establishing a regional guild for fellow furniture makers. Phil and Wendy were married in Portland, her home town, in August 1993. When in Housatonic, they built their dream home on a granite hillside. Their daughter Zoey was born in 2003, and the family raised bees, blueberries, Newfoundlands and a cat. In his senior year in high school, 1985, Phil was diagnosed with a head tumor. For 24 years, Phil met the challenges of managing this cancer through surgeries, radiation therapies, and medications. He and Wendy traveled, skied, canoed, swam, camped, drove Phil's 1976 Landcruiser, listened to music, and laughed together. In 2006, Phil became blind; he and Wendy determined to sell their home and his business and move to Portland. Phil enrolled at the Commission for the Blind where he began to learn braille, to acquire mobility skills, and to establish a workshop in his new home. Unfortunately, in 2008, the pressures of the tumor in his head took their toll, and Phil's health declined. In the last two months, Phil was bedridden in his home, where he enjoyed the company and appreciated the support of his friends and family. His father-in-law Chris and his friend Paul Ecker were especially faithful companions. Paul was an extraordinary friend. Phil was a person of simple values, of trust and hopefulness. He worked hard and laughed a lot - his sense of humor was wicked and wry and funny. He met people honestly; he was faithful. Phil met the challenges in his life with grace, and surmounted them with honor. Survivors include his wife, Wendy; their daughter, Zoey; his parents-in-law, Chris and Sarah Thomas of Portland; and a sister-in-law, Jennifer Thomas and her life partner, Ruth Zolock of Washington D.C. He is also survived by his parents, Robert and Bonnie Buchanan of Appleton, Wis; his brother, Gus and wife, Kara, and their daughters, Gwyneth and Iris of Burlington, Vt.; and his sister, Emily Buchanan Lehto and her children, Sydney and Robert of Appleton, Wis. He is also survived by many wonderful aunts, uncles, and cousins of the Glidden, Parker, Scanlon, Buchanan and Vitalis clans. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, William E. and Josephine B. Buchanan, and John "Jack" M. and Iris O. Glidden. Phil is also mourned by many friends he loved and with whom he maintained deep relationships until his death. Remembrance services and a celebration of Phil's life will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 28, 2009, at Cheatham Hall at the World Forestry Center, 4033 SW Canyon Road in Portland and in Appleton, Wis., in August. A memorial fund in Phil's name has been established at Camp Manito-wish YMCA. Contributions may be sent to this address: Box 246, Boulder Jct., WI 54512. Arrangements by Crown - Milwaukie 503-653-7076.
|
1967 - 2009 (42 years)
Obituary
