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In memory of

Alton Henry Phillips

Oro Valley, AZ, USA

March 23, 1938 - July 6, 2020

Mar 23, 1938 - Jul 6, 2020

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Alton Henry Phillips
March 23, 1938-July 6, 2020

Dad will always be remembered for his colorful stories of growing up in Jamaica and for the joy he brought to those who knew him. He grew up in Kingston, Jamaica and held several colorful jobs as a boy. One of his early work stories involved selling “diamond socks” (Dad’s name for argyle socks) for a haberdashery in Jamaica. Dad told us that at the time he loved the Cecil the Cat comics, one of which revealed how to open safes with “two turns to the left, two turns to the right, and back to zero.” One day Mr. Taylor, the owner of the haberdashery, left the store momentarily to my Dad’s care; Dad ran straight to the safe and attempted to open it with Cecil’s formula. It didn’t work, but the possibility of it working always thrilled Dad in the retelling.

Dad left Jamaica for Bermuda at the age of 21, contracting as a mason for a local company. In the evenings he worked as a night club waiter at Castle Harbor Hotel. On a trip to New York City, Dad attended a friend’s dinner party and met Mom. According to Dad, he was transfixed by Mom’s long lashes and hair and her “fast” car (a 1966 Chevy Corvair). For two years they maintained a long-distance relationship between New York and Bermuda with many love letters, which Mom kept. During one of Mom’s Bermuda trips, Dad entered an island-wide singing competition, performing one of his favorite songs, “Moon River.” As Dad recounts, in the crowd of swooning female audience members, only Mom screaming, “Oh, Al!” in adulation stood out to him. Although he didn’t win the competition, it did not seem to matter since the audience, and especially Mom, loved his performance.

Dad and Mom married in New York City at the courthouse in March 1969. They eventually built a house in Kingston, Jamaica, intending to use it as a vacation and future retirement home. They lived in a studio apartment in Gramercy Park for several years. Dad worked as a waiter in Greenwich Village clubs and during the day took radio-broadcasting classes. While wandering around the city looking for masonry work, he met Mr. Rooney, the head of a construction company, and was hired. Since Dad was well liked, was always on time and never missed a day, Mr. Rooney sponsored him for an apprenticeship in the Bricklayers Union.

Dad believed in the importance of home ownership and started to look for a house to purchase. They started their home search in Brooklyn, since Mom was teaching there, eventually finding a brownstone in Park Slope in 1973. Although the neighborhood initially brought Mom to tears, it turns out Dad was a visionary. He used his construction and masonry skills to transform this and future purchases into beautifully renovated homes. Over the next 25 years in Brooklyn, Mom and Dad raised two children and watched their construction business, Algin, thrive.

He took pride in teaching masonry to young men in his neighborhood and helping them learn on the job. Often Dad would point out the many brownstones on which he worked and the interesting stories surrounding the jobs. Dad always wanted to go back to Jamaica to retire, and in 1986 purchased a villa in Montego Bay and soon after sold the Kingston house.

In 1998 Dad and Mom decided to leave the city, sold all their Brooklyn properties and headed to Bradley Beach, New Jersey. They bought a house on Park Place Avenue, the same street where Mom had spent many childhood summers along with other Chinatown families. Dad enjoyed the quiet, beachside living in Bradley Beach and the close proximity to one of his and Mom’s favorite destinations, Atlantic City. They spent summers in Bradley Beach and winters in Montego Bay. In 2018 they relocated to Arizona, to live with my brother Hugh and his family.

Dad used to say he never envisioned a life like his, full of love, joy, success, and travel, as he climbed mango trees as a boy in Jamaica. He was surrounded by loving family, friends and wonderful neighbors; no matter where he lived he was blessed. We will miss him.

Dad is survived by:
· Eleanore “Ginny” Phillips (wife)
· Alton Hugh Phillips (son), Tanisha (daughter-in-law), and grandchildren Jaden, Sarah, Keren, and Elikai
· Alyssa Roye (daughter), Ruddy (son-in-law), and grandchildren Mosijah and Iyeoshujah
· Jennifer Phillips (daughter) and Donovan McGill (son-in-law)
· Sandra Phillips (daughter) and granddaughter Danielle Wharton
· Barbara Douglas (sister), nieces Denise, Danielle, Dalu, Debbie, and nephew Dan
· Marilyn Jamieson (sister) and Russell (brother-in-law)

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