Phil was born June 6, 1929, in Philadelphia, the son of Eleanor Wilmont and P. Fisher Robb. He came to Princeton from Cranbrook School and majored in sociology. Phil belonged to the Student Christian Association, St. Paul’s Society, and Terrace Club. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and roomed with Ben Van Tuyl and Bob Chadwick.
Phil served in the Army from 1951 to 1953. He then spent three years at Virginia Theological Seminary, earning a master’s degree in divinity, and two years at Howard University School of Social Work, from which he received a master’s degree in social work.
From 1958 to 1976, he was primarily involved in social work, including a chaplaincy at the Bedford (N.Y.) Correction Facility for Women, a vicarage at an Episcopal church in Baltimore, and as a welfare caseworker in Bel Air, Md.
He moved to California, and for 13 years worked as a psychiatric social worker. In 1976, he earned a law degree from the University of La Verne in California, then spent 20 years as a prosecutor on the San Bernardino district attorney’s staff.
Phil died Dec. 4, 2013, in Grand Terrace, Calif. He is survived by his wife, Carol Leonard Robb; son Tim and daughter Rebecca from a previous marriage; and four grandchildren.