Robert Manning Phenix ’35

BOB PHENIX, one of our eight clergymen, died on June 30, 1989, following lung surgery. Bob spent much of his life in Wyoming and Colorado and this was probably a factor in his love for two outdoor sports, cross country running and skiing. He kept up with both sports all his life. At Princeton he was captain of our freshman cross country team, won the Keene Fitzpatrick medal for the two-mile run and, 54 years later, was the oldest participant and a respectable finisher in the alumni distance race at reunions in 1985 (our 50th reunion). He majored in psychology, was a university scholarship holder, a director of the Student Faculty Association, and health officer of Princeton Summer Camp. From our 25th reunion on, Bob was a regular.

After a business career and a stint in the Navy as a communications officer, he entered Princeton Theological Seminary in 1946. He graduated in 1950 and was called to the First Presbyterian Church in Gillette, Wyo. He had a very successful pastorate there until July 1965. All his life Bob served his church and his communities in many ways. He was a founder and president of the

Wyoming State Mental Health Association, and from 1965 to 1978, he served as clinical staff chaplain at the Wyoming Mental Health Hospital. After retiring, he continued pastoral duties in churches in the area and staff social work in mental hospitals.

Bob married Carlota de Bullet in 1936. She died in May 1980. On Sept. 20, 1981 he married Donna Jean Cook, who survives him. Bob is also survived by a son, Robert M. Phenix Jr. '68, two daughters, Carlota Striffler and Laura W. Mason, a brother, Phillip H. Phenix '34, three stepsons, six grandchildren, and eight stepgrandchildren. We are proud of and grateful for his life of Christian service.