As I was walking around the Statler Ballroom looking at all of the photographs of cherished memories from Phil's past, I saw many  great moments of "our" Phil.  There was a great photo of him as a strapping young lad on a motorcycle in a pair of big bell bottom pants, and another of Phil in his Dune Buggy that he built himself. I also saw a great photo of Phil with his friend with the last name Moriarity I believe, and young Moriarity had one of the best 70's porn star mustaches I have ever seen! Phil was smiling that smile of his and it looked like he was laughing right out loud in that way we all can remember. I would love to know what was going down just before that photo was taken!                                                                                                                                              While I was enjoying all of these images bittersweet as it was, I couldn't help but think of the many memories I have had laughing with Phil and just enjoying each other when we had the chance to cross paths. One memory is always going to be the first memory that comes to mind when I think of Phil.
My cousin was in town and we were going out to brunch at Americana winery and low and behold Phil and Yasamin  had the same idea. As I was getting ready to take a seat I had pulled the chair back and as I went to sit down, the chair kept sliding backwards out a set of French doors and inevitably, the chair and myself landed rather loudly on the floor. Mortified as I was I was trying to figure out how to get up and be invisible at the same time. Well while we all know that Phil is tall in stature he seems even taller when he is standing over you extending his hand to help you up. My embarrassment went away and his lighthearted smile put me at ease. This sort of memory is self evident of the man Phil was. You will be missed my friend, but you will not be forgotten.  

I had the great pleasure of making music with Phil, as a Cornell undergrad and then as an alum, for 40 years.  Phil and I joined the Glee Club as freshmen in 1979, and we joined the Hangovers together a year later.  I particularly remember that he was my roommate on the first homestay of our first Glee Club tour - I believe it was somewhere around Cincinnati, on our way out to Oklahoma City during 1979-1980 intersession.  I was petrified at the prospect of having to make small talk with middle-aged alumni, not having been blessed with a naturally outgoing personality. Phil, on the other hand, commanded the room with an ease I could only marvel at.  After a wide-ranging living room conversation, we shot pool with their daughter who couldn't have been more than 9, and again Phil made her feel like the most important person in the room until she was sent to bed, most decidedly against her will.  (He was the "consummate Hotelie" long before he got the diploma to prove it.)  I reminded Phil of this episode about 20 years later, and he still remembered that little girl's name.  I'm sure that comes as no surprise to those who knew him as a friend, colleague and associate, as I'm sure he approached all with the same big heart, wry smile and quick laugh that I will always remember.

Dear Yasamin, Geordie called me this morning, to tell me about your loss of Phil.  As you know and are hearing from people all over the world, he was a great fun guy, with no mean bones in his body.  Always a smile.  We used to joke around because he always called me a cousin. Well, sort of but not really.  Sea Oaks in Vero Beach is going to miss him.  He was a productive member of the Board of Directors of The Tennis Villas.
As for me, I've known him for year and you too...  God has him now and I don't know whether it's a better place of not, but I do know that he will make it an even better place.
All my love and Hugs
Polly

So sorry to hear of Phil's passing. Slightly eerie as he has been on my mind lately and I just sent him a Linkedin note to catchup a week or two ago as I wasn't (planning) on being in Ithaca this summer. I last saw him the summer before (2018) in Ithaca at the Thursday evening Ithaca Summer Concert series, almost a year to this day. He had recently returned from some Hotelie event in Europe where the group went on an excursion of such. He was quite chuffed about that trip and made sure I knew that I was invited to the next one, as I was planning to go back to Europe soon thereafter.I was sold for it seemed like he had a great time and the networking was supreme.  He looked as healthy and gregarious as ever last year. I chatted to him in April before that at HEC and also at the @Entrepreneurship event. He was at both of these in 2018 and had taken an interest in Entrepreneurship and I believe was also an EIR for the Hotel School. I introduced my son to him at some point in the Statler over at the last two years as well. The summer before that in 2017 I saw him in Ithaca as well at a startup party downtown for Rosie. We had beers and he introduced me to some other hotelies and told me "See, that is what I do, I put Hotelies together". 
Phil was the awesomest Alumni Affairs guy ever. I think it was Harry Keller who probably inspired (and trained) him, I always assumed that was the case anyway.  I know he was keen for he recruited me to the the President of what was then the Orlando Chapter of the Cornell Society of Hotelmen in the early 1990's. I think I had the shortest term ever as President as I moved to Chicago shortly thereafter. Phil wasn't bothered and he introduced me to people there as well. When I returned to the Hill for my MBA in 1996, I looked forward to stopping by Phil's office now and then for a random blather. Being Phil, he introduced me to a variety of local Hotelies in Ithaca. We used to chat about Delta Chi as well, that Phil was helping "parent" if you will while he was on campus. In later years, Phil used to call me personally to invite me to reunions (as I'm sure he did everyone else, systematically), or to get involved with Hotelie groups wherever I was on the planet. He introduced me to Peter Lee, Hotelie of an old year like '60 or something :-) , who was the Alumni Affairs person in San Francisco for years when I lived in the Bay Area. Peter was awesome at this stuff too. I remember lots of nights hanging with Phil and others at events in different places, including Florida, where Tom Cleary '89, another friend and classmate, chummed me as well. These were good parties and Phil was at the center of it all, and somehow managed to keep his diplomatic disposition in a friendly manner amongst all the Hotelies Gone Wild. Cleary also gifted Phil with the infamous Hotelie.com url. This fit Phil to a tee.  Tragically, Phil got caught in some sort of university political quagmire and left Cornell. I don't think he was happy leaving at all, and most of us assumed he'd be there until retirement like Harry. I never did understand what exactly happened, and Phil never discussed it with me, but I knew enough about universities to understand they are fraught with political dangers, including smoke screens and daggers to the back. For many of us, Phil was the face of the Hotel School, he was the front line persona, and the relationship (with the School) was never the same for me after he left (the formal role). I sort of lost interest with being an active alumnus after he and Peter Lee left the scene, and so did others.  He will be missed. I am saddened by his passing, I guess I always assumed he'd be around on this planet as long as I would or thereabouts. -from Spaghetti, Hotel BS '90, MBA '99

Phil embodied the spirit of genuine hospitality and what the Hotel School is about.  He inspired me and many, many, many others by being extremely present and engaged with whoever he was with.  His ability to remember people, names and situations was phenomenally impressive and was what I believe set him so much apart:  he was genuinely interested in others and loved to make connections and introductions for others in a very unselfish way.  As an undergrad, Phil genuinely connected with us students and made us feel special and important.  As an alumni, he always reached out with a note, a call or an email when I came to visit campus.  As an alumni, he kept in touch with newsletters or short messages from time to time - to keep in touch.  Phil embodied care, strong interest in others and forming personal connection with people.  I will dearly miss his wit, his pen and his positive outlook on life and people.  My condolences and thoughts go out to Yasamin, Phil's family, friends - among them many SHA alumni.  The memory of you is very much alive and will continue to inspire the many, many people you have made feel so welcomed and special.  Thank you, Philippus.  We have a lot to live up to now!  Henrik

Phil was the walking embodiment of a true Hospitality Master.  Since my graduation in 2001, and until 2017, I had only seen Phil once; in 2003.  When I saw him in New York in 2017, he immediately came over and spoke to me as if we had just seen each other the previous week.  He asked about the different locations I had worked, and connected a the dots with some of the people that we both knew in the industry in those cities.  This was an incredible, but not surprising demonstration of his hospitality acumen toward personalization.  The news of his passing, and especially of someone as young as he was; was a stunning and jaw dropping moment within the close knit network of Cornell Hospitality, and the Hospitality Industry as a whole.  My thoughts are with Yasamin and I am/we are so appreciative of her sharing Phil with us for all of these years.  Karl