Philip David Pentland Diggdon ’54

Phil died Sept. 16, 2021.

He was proud to have been the first son of a Princeton University janitor to attend Princeton and the first Diggdon or Pentland to go to college. At Princeton High School he played football, basketball, tennis, soccer, and cross-country and was a member of the Student Court and the Student Council. He was also an Eagle Scout. 

A pre-med at Princeton, he majored in biology, joined Campus Club, played varsity soccer and several intramural sports, and sang in the Second Presbyterian Church choir.

Phil gained early admission to Northwestern Medical School and worked his way through. He loved to tell of the chain of mentors who helped him through the rigors of internship and residency on the way to becoming a practicing board-certified urological surgeon. His own practice began in Tulsa, Okla., in 1964. He retired from active surgery in 2001 but continued to work with attorneys as an expert witness.

Vigorous until stricken with ALS, Phil played tennis and golf and was a mountaineer, scuba diver, marathoner, and water-sports enthusiast. He claimed that he was the American Dream and that his middle name was Lucky. 

Phil is survived by the love of his life, Donna Reynolds, whom he married in 1998; son David Pentland Diggdon; daughter Sarah Myrth Diggdon; stepdaughter Nancy Reynolds; and grandson Dylan.