Beth’s father, Phil Teller passed away peacefully two years ago today in his room at Shalom Park in Denver. He would have been 98 years old tomorrow. We were happy that Beth and our daughters, Leah and Chava had the chance to spend time with “Gramps” the day that he passed. Phil was a loving father, grandfather, uncle and great uncle.

As a young man in Brooklyn, New York, Phil enlisted in the army as was sent to Europe during WWII. He loved to show people his photographs and tell them stories of his exploits in Europe during the war. His unit was responsible for managing a truck sized computer than provided the targeting system for a big gun. Unfortunately, it was missing almost every target. Phil, a draftsman figured out that it was because one set of gears was in centimeters and the other in inches, resulting in inaccurate targeting. Using his skills, he engineered a solution that allowed the translation of centimeters and inches to successfully target the gun. Everyone in Phil’s unit was awarded a medal except Phil because he was Jewish.

Phil returned to New York where he married his high school sweetheart, Lillian Greenberg, Rather than following his plan to become an engineer, as jobs were scarce, he enrolled at Pace University to become an accountant. After interning, with his CPA in hand, Phil ultimately became a tax and audit specialist for car dealerships on Long Island and in Connecticut, diamond dealers in Manhattan and companies in the garment district of New York.

When Lillian had her second round with cancer, Phil took early retirement cutting back to a few days a week while he took care of her. She passed away in September of 1986. Following a stroke, he moved in with his son Marc in their house in Maryland. He would spend long vacations with us each year and ultimately moved in with us when Marc was posted to England with the NSA. Phil lived with us in Colorado, Maui, Edgewater, NJ, Playa del Carmen and Los Cabos, Mexico. He spent his days reading mysteries, playing sudoku and watching sports. His mind was sharp up until the end.

Phil loved our late Lhasa Apso, Alfie. Despite the fact that when Beth and Marc were young, they were forbidden from feeding their German Shepard Duke from the table or cuddling with him on a bed or the couch, that is exactly what Phil would do. It was impossible to stop him from feeding Alfie or Riley and Rusty, Leah’s dogs, when she would visit. For hours each day, Phil and Alfie would be curled up together on the couch.

Whenever we were close enough to Long Island, Phil would celebrate holidays with his nieces, Joyce and Lois and their husbands, Ralph Fleishman and Chuck Gehrman and their children, Rusty, Leslie, Ellen and Gail. He loved spending time with them and their families as they grew.

Phil is survived by his son Marc, his daughter Beth and his granddaughters, Leah and Chava as well as his nieces and their children. He was loved and is greatly missed by all.