Phil was born on November 22, 1937, to parents Sam and Elsie Coates in Staines, England. Growing up, he was close to his brother Tony and his sister Joan, and their bond remained strong throughout adulthood, despite living in different countries from each other.
The family lived in Staines during WWII and later moved to a wooden house called Boscabel on the River Thames. Phil grew up with his family on the River Thames from the age of 10 until 21. They had a wonderful time, in a free creative atmosphere.
Phil loved sports. In school Phil played rugby. After that any time he saw a moving ball he would run after it. It opened up his love of all sports. His favorite being the very special English Football Team Brentford. He did well in high school and then went to Cambridge University where he studied Chinese, which was in his nature, very adventurous as Chinese wasn’t a popular major and wasn’t offered as a university subject very often.
From there he lived in London where he met Anne. After a very brief courtship they were married. They had four children: Naomi, Hannah, Justine & Tim. Hannah preceded Phil in death. They moved to Canada in 1969 and then to San Francisco Bay Area ,CA in 1978, where Phil immediately became a lifelong San Francisco 49er and Giants fan.
No settling down was enough for Anne and Phil. They lived in 5 different countries; England, Canada, USA, Hong Kong, & Singapore. In total they had 27 addresses in their 58 years of marriage. Phil worked in sales and marketing in the computer and telecommunications industry. They moved so much so that Anne hated the initials IBM, which meant to her not the name of the famous company but rather I’ve Been Moved Again.
One day, Phil decided to have a hobby so he became a beekeeper. Known as “The Bee Man”, Phil had many adventures with the bees and soon he added chickens to the back yard wildlife. Over the years, the family had many pets and the adventures that come with them. Gerbils and cats stuck in the house walls, a hamster that nearly had its tubes tied and a cat that after being flown from Canada to USA on a $60 plane ticket quickly proceeded to get itself runover on the FWY. Of all the family pets, Max the dog was Phil’s favorite and it makes us happy to think they are together again in heaven.
The first time Justine brought home her boyfriend Paul, Phil put him to the test by having him smash concrete for hours in the back yard with a sledge hammer. He must have passed, as Paul and Justine were wed two years later and have been married now for 28 years.
Phil and Anne have 4 grandsons; Jonathan, Matthew, Willie and Jayce from their daughters Naomi and Justine; and 5 step-grandchildren from their son, Tim and his wife Sara; Nathaniel, Natalia, Abigail, Isaac & Dylan.
Phil and Anne enjoyed traveling all over the globe visiting as many countries as they could. They loved seeing the world and learning about new cultures. Phil was an avid reader and was never without a 500 page book by his side. He and Anne enjoyed the theater, concerts and playing music. Phil loved a good Western movie, blue grass music and was often found nodding off to the strains of Gene Autry.
Phil loved his family more than anything. He was kind, loyal and forgiving. Staying connected with friends and family across the miles was important to him and his love was felt by all.
After his stroke in 2019 he was asked if he ever gets frustrated. He replied, “I tried that, but it didn’t do me any good, so I stopped.” At the end of his life, Phil was in quite a lot of pain, but keeping in character he joked with the nurses and focused on making everyone laugh. His motto was, this is what’s happening so let’s “just get on with it.”
It was on the day after their 58th Wedding Anniversary that Phil passed away. One of the worst things about the date of his death was the fact that he missed the opening match at Brentord’s new stadium, for which he had tickets. It was an event he had been looking forward to for years. We can find solace in the fact that from now on, Phil will have a front row seat at every home Brentford game. Here’s to you, Phil. Up the Bees!