Single Mom; four brats; every Easter;  full baskets of candy hidden in the same places...every Halloween; full bags of candy. Three of the brats would gobble up their candy in a few days...not Phill; he leisurely nibbled at his. The 3 other brats were at his basket every day...can I have some of  yours?  Sure. I always said to myself, â€œWhat a dummieâ€.  It was his caring, loving nature showing up early! We loved it!

One thing our Dad did when we were young was take us camping/fishing. The 4 brats. This was our gear: tent, blankets, big frying pan, oil, corn meal, salt, pepper, paper plates, Dadâ€™s fishing rods, tackle box. Thatâ€™s all. We cut our own poles in the woods and he gave us string, hooks, bobbers. Sometimes we found and cut bamboo poles. We always dug our worms the day before. NO FISH...NO EAT!  We never missed a meal...Phill excelled at it in every way!! Our Dad worked for City of Clevelandâ€™s water Dept. and would bring home a big stringer about once a week...I was always lucky...â€here Sam, clean theseâ€!!! Over the yers we fished all over the country, but mostly Lake Erie and local rivers... Phill always caught the most and the biggest and sometimes the only! one!

Phill was the sharpest tack in the bag...He started the world of work as a Union carpenter for many years, was a Master gardener all his life, We both  enjoyed dabbling in the Stock Market; I spent big bucks on classes, he was self taught...Later he started his own home remodeling business specializing in kitchens and bathrooms. Over the years he trained himself to be be a lawyer helping our sister Phyllis with two major battles...at one time we were up against four lawyers with their main boss on the phone back at their office....just us...we won. Later over the years he helped his daughter Pam with a long running significant battle; the outcome was negative only because he was against  2 crooked lawyers. He was always always there for her when her other lawyers folded.  He could have easily  passed the Ohio Stare Bar Exam with a little coaching! He went on to train himself as a Natural Healing Doctor and used that skill to bring his sweet wife Char back to health over a period of almost two years and also himself!  As his brother always said: â€œWHAT A GUYâ€!!!

In the good book it says, â€œGreater love hath no  man than to give up his life for his friendsâ€. That was Phill...My best guesstimate of the number of years he spent (think full focus) on the three women in his life... Sister Phyllis, Wife Charlotte, and Daughter Pam would be at least almost the last 30 years of his life; This was the various legal and health issues already mentioned. His every waking moment was spent on study, research, cooking, cleaning, and serving. At one July 4th holiday when My wife Deb and I came for a visit he could barely walk to the car, he was trembling,
uncontrollably, he was very skinny and pale... the problem was not enough sleep... we had a talk with Char who would snooze in her chair while he was cooking or doing other chores... She understood and started letting him sleep more...even being COPD he recovered in less than a month!!  â€œWHAT A GUYâ€!!!

With the exception of missing his Char,  his COPD and the last month or so with the Covid 19...since we talked almost every day... He was probably the happiest person I knew... Dominic his grandson set his TV up with a bunch of streaming apps and he was eating TV dinners and watching Tv and taking walks up and down  his driveway whenever he wanted to... he reminded me of someone who was just released from prison! Over and over again he would relay how happy he was to me..I was so happy for him!! I just realized that he and my Mom are the same... both â€œCaregivers â€œ She gave up her life as a single mom to raise the four brats and he did the same for the three women of his life!
WHAT A GUY!!! I will miss my brother Phill for a time and when Jesus comes again we will be together...Thank you LORD Jesus!

Phillip was such a sweetheart and had a huge heart!! He fought a long battle between his own illness/disease and caring for his love of his life wife Charlotte! He was a strong willed man and fought hard right to the end! Thanks for your friendship Phillip! You will be missed!! So long for now, say hello to my dear friend Charlotte! You are finally at Peace with your Charlotte!!ðŸ™ðŸ»â¤ï¸

OBITUARY

Phillip J. Houston

October 10, 1943 – January 2, 2021

A. Ripepi & Sons Funeral Home

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