She was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1932, daughter of the late Edgar and Marion (Goodwin) Phillips. They moved to Rochester, NY, where she attended the Columbia-Allendale school. She then went back south for college at Sweetbriar, after which she moved to New York City and worked as an assistant in advertising.
It was there that she met the love of her life, William Frost Whitmarsh, to whom she was married for 52 years. She devotedly cared for him for the last 32 of those years after he had a terrible car accident. Her love for her “Whit” was boundless.
In their early married years, they lived in New Haven, CT and Wayne, PA , where Douggie was involved in the Junior League, as well as various volunteer organizations and singing groups.
They had shared the tragedy of losing a son, Robert Randolph Whitmarsh, at a very young age, and it was his illness that had brought them back to New England. Whit’s parents were in Little Compton, where he bought Shethar Real Estate and they built their dream house which she lived in until this year.
Douggie settled into Little Compton life by joining the Little Compton Garden Club, where her focus was working with the Wilbur & McMahon 6th graders teaching conservation and ecology. She also worked diligently for Save The Bay. She collaborated with the local Audubon chapter in leading birdwalks all year long. She had a wonderfully extensive knowledge of birds and flora. She could be seen racing to the deck with her binoculars having spotted an elusive wood duck.
Douggie had been raised Episcopalian, but she and Whit were married in the United Congregational Church in Little Compton, and she became a member there. She was in the choir there for years, and was the first woman deacon.
She joined a writing group called the “Memoiristas”, older ladies who wrote and shared essays and vignettes of their lives and experiences. The women she met there became some of the closest friends of her life, artistic soulmates. She also belonged to the RI Short Story Club in Providence, and was its president in its 100th year. In addition to writing, she loved photography, and even had a darkroom in the house.
She was an avid reader with an unquenchable curiosity, particularly of poetry, and she LOVED music, from classical to show tunes, big band, and especially Dixieland jazz and ragtime. She adored her trips to Boston for the symphony, theater, and museums, especially when she was introducing her children, and then grandchildren, to these. She was an amazing cook, and loved nothing more than hosting their good friends around a beautiful dinner table, always with an arrangement cut from the fields and her garden.
She was a member of Warren’s Point Beach Club, Sakonnet Yacht Club, and Sakonnet Golf Club. Whit and she both loved the outdoors, and they camped, kayaked, and sailed all over New England. They loved travelling and did so for many years, even after Whit’s accident. For their 25th wedding anniversary , Douggie located and brought back one of the Alden Sakonnet one-design daysailers that Whit had sailed years before, and was still able to. They enjoyed many years in their beloved September Song.
A great lover of adventure, she flew in a two-seater Cessna plane from Rhode Island to Alaska, and hiked the Milford Track, one of the Great Walks of New Zealand.
She is survived by two daughters, Marjorie Mason (Mimi) Whitmarsh of Little Compton, and Lucy Wiley Whitmarsh of Minnesota; two grandchildren, Nicole Winslow Kersey and her husband Tyler Kersey, and Dr. Madison Mason Humphrey and her husband Dr. Corey Spies; two great- grandchildren, Joseph and Madison Kersey; her brother, Anthony Phillips and his wife Judith Raphael of Chicago, Illinois; her niece, Brenda Bragdon and her nephew, James Young.
She had wonderful empathy and kindness and will hold a cherished place in the hearts of her friends and family forever.
Her funeral will be held on Saturday, September 27, 2025, at 2:00 pm at the United Congregational Church of Little Compton, Little Compton, RI. Relatives and friends are invited. Burial will be private.
Memorial contributions in her honor may be made to the Brownell Library, 44 Commons, Little Compton, RI 02837, or the Audubon Society of RI, 12 Sanderson Rd. Smithfield, RI 02917 https://asri.org
