James M. Phillips ’49 *59

James Phillips died Aug. 2, 2012, from complications of a fall.

Jim was born March 21, 1929, in Pittsburgh. He came to Princeton from Peabody High School and graduated with a degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. At Princeton he belonged to Prospect Club, served as a waiter and captain in the dining halls, and was active in Christian organizations on campus.

After college, Jim taught at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, and was swept up in the war that began there in 1950. He devoted himself to helping refugees fleeing from the north.

Jim graduated from Yale Divinity School in 1955 and returned to Princeton to earn a doctorate in religion in 1959. He embarked on a long career as a professor, writer, pastor, and minister to the poor and the vulnerable in places as diverse as Japan; San Francisco; Ventnor, N.J.; New Haven, Conn.; and Vellore, India.

Jim enjoyed a long marriage to Ruth (Henning) Phillips, and he is survived by his two daughters, Catherine and Marjorie, and three grandchildren, Benjamin, Joshua, and Patricia. The sympathies of his classmates go to them in their loss of this good and caring man.