Educator.
Born at Winnipeg on 15 June 1915, son of Ernest Phillips and Susannah Counsell, he spent his childhood at Winnipeg Beach then returned to Winnipeg to attend Kelvin High School. After graduation, he attended Normal School then began teaching at the Portage Home for Boys. During the Second World War, he enlisted in the Canadian Army but did not serve overseas. After his military discharge, he took additional education, receiving BA and MA degrees in History, and BEd and MEd degrees in Education, from the University of Manitoba.
He worked for the Winnipeg School Division for over 30 years, teaching at Knowles School (Principal 1939-1940), Lord Selkirk School, Isaac Newton School (1949-1950, 1951-1957, Vice-Principal 1958-1965), Sisler High School (1957-1958), Florence Nightingale School (Principal 1965-1969), and Luxton School (Principal 1969-1975). He retired in 1975 and served as a lay reader at All Saints’ Anglican Church in Winnipeg and St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church in Winnipeg Beach.
In August 1949, he married schoolteacher Nina Cameron Walley (1924-2018, sister of Colin Sinclair Walley) and they had three daughters.
He moved to Ottawa, Ontario in 1998 and died there on 14 April 2010. He is commemorated by the Tom Phillips Scholarship at the University of Manitoba.
Marriage registration [Ernest Phillips, Susannah Counsell], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Birth registration [Alfred Thomas Phillips], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 17 April 2010, page C17.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 28 December 2018.
We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 17 March 2025
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