An Abbreviated History of Phil

Phil Kreitner, a caring and loyal family member, friend, athlete, dancer, and environmental steward “slipped the bonds of Earth” on August 24th, 2021. His death, like much of his life, was minimalist and resource efficient. His life was well-lived; this narrative is intended to attempt to describe that life (all errors and omissions are a function of Sherril not finding or verifying factoids that only Phil knew).

Philip Colman Kreitner was born in Buffalo on November 28, 1939, the second son of Robert and Caroline Kreitner. Early in his life, his family moved to the family rural farm in Sardinia, NY where Phil developed a love of trees and the solitude of forests, raised goats in his spare time, and generally thrived from living in the “house at the end of the line where the school bus turned around in the driveway.”

He attended Pennsylvania State University (State College/Happy Valley campus) on a US Naval ROTC scholarship, graduating with a BA in 1961. He was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon, Pi chapter (a fraternity whose mission is "to aid men in their mental, moral and social development for life." He served as a Commissioned Officer in the US Navy in the Atlantic and Pacific from 1961-1965. Highlights of his naval service on the USS Essex included being sent to Berlin in 1961 to “show the flag” and view and report to Navy leadership on the newly constructed “Die Mauer” (for which he received a Navy commendation), and serving in Guantanamo Bay when the Cuban Missile Crisis began in 1962. He then was assigned to the US Seventh Fleet service squadron, home-ported in Sasebo, Japan. Upon completion of his service, he and his first wife Ggisela Nass travelled in Australia and New Zealand for a year – shifting in a few months from serving as a Naval Officer to employment as a ditch digger on the construction of the US Naval Communications Station in Exmouth on the NW Cape of Australia, followed by a stint as a publisher’s representative in both Australia and New Zealand.

They returned to the US, settling in Washington, DC and Phil was employed for a year as a program analyst in the Navy Department’s Bureau of Ships. He then worked for three years as a demographer at the World Bank, getting into occasional mischief with Greg Zafros. During this time he was awarded a Ford Foundation Scholarship and earned an MA in Demography at Georgetown University, completing a masters thesis on “Menstrual Cycle Biphasic Variability” in 1970. He volunteered in the national organizing office for the first Earth Day, which inspired him to change professional directions, and in 1972 he enrolled in the Environmental Advocacy doctoral program in the then-department of Environmental Education and Outdoor Recreation at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (which later evolved into the School of Natural Resources and the Environment). While working on his dissertation, he moved to the Pacific Northwest for the first time in 1976, with Margie Harris (fondly known as his “first Jewish girlfriend”). While living in Salem, OR and working various menial jobs to maintain his sanity, he completed his dissertation, entitled “The Theory of Economic Cooperation, US New Generation Food Co-ops, and The Cooperative Dilemma” and received his PhD from UM in 1978. He was then hired by Public Citizen, Inc. to be Ralph Nader’s Consumer Cooperative Development Assistant, a job which required Phil to visit food coops and coop bakeries across the US (ideal employment for him and his famous appetite). He was one of the organizers of the Whole Grain Bakeries Educational Foundation (North American membership), co-founder of the Home Energy Conservation Materials Foundation (Massachusetts), and an advisor to the Michigan Federation of Food Cooperatives. He served for several years as a Trustee of the Cooperative Fund of New England.

During this time, Phil and his co-op partner Eliza Strode joined a group house in Somerville, MA, setting the foundation for lifelong friendships with the Cooper/Mollisons and further convincing Phil of the merits of a cooperative lifestyle (especially helping his housemates with expiring fridge contents). The perfect storm of three years of co-op organizing, the beginning of the Reagan Administration, turning 40, and the disappearance of many of his colleagues into business school provoked a self-described “mid-life crisis”, which Phil dealt with by returning to school to receive his Ms.T. in 1983 from the Bancroft School of Massage Therapy in Worcester, MA. For the next nearly 30 years, Phil’s primary livelihood derived from an itinerant massage therapy practice along the “BosNYWash Corridor” where loyal clients accommodated Phil’s unpredictable schedule, and were rewarded with expert therapeutic massage, rambling political and social rants at both the massage and dining tables, and a sincere commitment to finishing any leftovers offered to him by clients post-massage.

Phil’s massage career resulted in an important life event – Cynthia (“Yenta”) Piltch, also a Michigan graduate and a long-time client, introduced Phil to Sherril Gelmon, anticipating “there would be karma”. From their first meeting in January 1991, Phil and Sherril were infatuated (and at times perplexed and confused) with each other, and thus began a 30 year hare-and-tortoise relationship that defied many odds, in particular the previous track records of each for long-term, lasting relationships.

Given his love of trees, forests and wood products (the demographer would often rant about populations of anything but particularly trees), Phil was enticed by his long-time friend Jeff Joslin to relocate to Portland, OR in 1993 to conduct original research on hand demolition and the opportunities provided by reuse of building products. The Whole House Recycling Project produced “The Waste Papers”, a work commissioned by the Portland Metropolitan Service District to analyze the potential for salvage and reuse of construction materials from residential demolition. Phil then set himself up as WREN (Wood Resource Efficiency Network) and spent much of the next 15 years researching wood fiber conservation and the potential for reclamation of structural elements from building dismantlement. He designed, conducted and reported research on building deconstruction at the Presidio of San Francisco, collaborating with San Francisco Community Recyclers, and at the Treasure Island Naval Base. In collaboration with Jefferson Woodworks in McCloud, CA, Phil handcrafted 90+ tables of hand-salvaged Douglas Fir flooring and joists, many of which now reside in the homes of friends and family across the US and Canada as well as the offices of a few carefully selected nonprofits.

Phil convinced Sherril to follow him west in 1994 (luckily Portland State University had what appeared to be the perfect job for her). After one year in less than adequate pseudo-congregate housing, they bought a single family dwelling which continues to be their home, and now boasts over a dozen tall trees in their urban mini-forest, all planted by Phil. They were married in 1998, and celebrated with a large and eclectic group of family and friends at East and West Coast parties in the summer of 1999.

Phil was a committed teacher, and was passionate about learning and sharing his views. His first teaching gig was as an instructor at Georgetown University in 1971, and he subsequently also taught as an adjunct instructor at George Washington University, Howard University, the University of Michigan, and Middlesex Community College. He was a Teacher Trainer for Zero Population Growth in Maryland, DC and Oregon for several years. He became an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Portland State University in 1996 where he taught Environmental Health for several years, and then was appointed as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government where he created and taught innovative courses on bioterrorism policy and food systems sustainability. Despite being known for a lack of precise organization and a somewhat irreverent style, his students routinely commented on their deep learning given his eclectic perspectives (and “Kreitnerness”), and valued his enthusiasm and excitement as a teacher. One friend said “He had a unique and inclusive sense of humor that added insights to every conversation.” He stopped teaching in 2009 when memory issues made the pedagogic process unmanageable.

Phil thrived on physical activity, and over the years participated in football, lacrosse (returning to Ann Arbor each year for a varsity lacrosse game where he aspired to be the oldest player on the team and succeeding – at his last game he was three times the age of the youngest player), any racquet sport where he could find a willing partner who could match his ambidextrous skills, running, and eventually rowing (on land). Inspired and encouraged by his “Row Model” Kathleen Landauer, Phil competed for several years in the annual CRASH-B Sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships erg competition, winning medals most years in his age cohort (and boasting about these, despite the relatively modest competition).

Phil’s curiosity supported his desire to travel, and he and Sherril had many adventures over the years. These included service trips with the Sierra Club to Crater Lake, Yosemite and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and forest restoration with Trees for Life in the Caledonian Forest in Scotland. They enjoyed “scholarly touring” during Sherril’s sabbaticals in South Africa and in Australia, and took vacations in nearly every Canadian province, many European countries, and on safari in Tanzania. In recent years, cruises proved an ideal vacation given Phil’s nautical joy of being on water (especially in small ships), beginning with an Alaskan adventure and followed by trips to China, Tibet, Russia, France, Finland, Norway, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and around the southern half of South America. Three gastronomic and adventure-filled vacations took place with friends at villas in Italy and Portugal. The annual Kreitner family Thanksgiving gathering was a highlight for Phil, in part for the annual running of the Geezer 400 followed by huge amounts of food, and the usual coinciding event of his birthday, but mostly to be with the family members he loved. For many years he was a loyal attendee at the periodic gatherings of his NROTC class where he continued to entertain the group as he had done since 1957, despite having little in common politically or socially with many of his classmates. He could ignore these differences given his desire to maintain his NROTC network (and he relished his time with “the guys” who still called him “Animal”, a name that dated to various undergraduate antics in the late 1950’s).

Phil was first evaluated for memory loss in the spring of 2010. Over the next 11 years he received exceptional care from a series of clinical researchers at the OHSU Layton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, participating in three drug trials and five other short and longer-term clinical studies. As he progressed from Early Mild Cognitive Impairment to full-blown Alzheimer’s Disease, his needs for care and support to maintain a dignified life and stay at home increased. There is no clear roadmap to achieve that, and Phil and Sherril were grateful to have the support of the resources of the Layton Center as well as those of the Adult Day Program at Cedar Sinai Park, Cohen Caring Consultants, and a series of companions hired through United Homecare Services. Heartfelt thanks go to Dr. Aimee Pierce, Dr. Mary Pickett, Kim Biggs-Sanders, PA-C, Rhonda Kay Leonard, Nancy Heckler, and Bill Cohen. All were incredibly kind, caring and patient.

Phil is survived by his wife, Sherril Gelmon; three Kreitner brothers, Clint, Bob (Rube) and Peter; three Gelmon in-laws, Larry, Paula and Karen; several Kreitner, Gelmon, Langford and Busby nieces and nephews; and many relatives in the extended Kreitner/Aitken/Sanborn and Gelmon/Chertkow/Brooks/Sheps clans/families/tribes. Phil invested considerable effort in creating a healthy adult relationship with his son Kurt Kreitner Brown; Kurt discontinued contact with Phil several months ago.

There will be no burial, shiva, wake, or organized celebration of life at Phil’s request. Phil’s ashes will be interred with new trees in several locations that were important to him. Please remember Phil by doing something good for the environment (such as planting and nurturing a tree), patronizing your local food co-op, and/or making a donation to help the ongoing work to find a cure for the horrible effects that Alzheimer’s Disease ravages on those unlucky enough to experience it – both the victims and their caregivers. Donations in Phil’s honor/memory may be made to the OHSU Layton Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Center (https://give.ohsufoundation.o…) where funds will be designated to support a new caregiving program for families living with dementia. Family and friends seeking to donate in Canada are encouraged to contribute to the Canadian Consortium for Neurodegeneration in Aging (https://www.baycrestfoundatio…, attention: Dr. H. Chertkow). Or please donate to your local academic Alzheimer’s Disease research center. Tributes to Phil may be posted here or sent to sherril.gelmon@gmail.com.

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