Phil Brooks, of Capitol Island and Southport, wanted you to know he’s finally left the party.  The cause of his demise was a mix of old age, lung fibrosis, and general decrepitude punctuated by a sharp mind, clever wit and strong body, none of which wanted to give up.

Born in 1931 in Medford and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts by Clarence R. and Virginia Jerguson Brooks, Phil was an exalted only child for five full years until Virginia produced twin brother/sister Alan and Ellen (Baldwin), followed by Richard and Barbara (Benson).  These siblings formed a lively and raucous group, which, after the passing of their extraordinary mother, Phil unofficially became patriarch to keep the frivolity going.

As a youngster, Phil spent every summer on Capitol Island, where he was magnetically drawn to sailing.  His grandmother Cora Bell Fletcher Jerguson sponsored his teenage ownership of BHYC One Design #21 Dolphin.  In his downtime, Phil attended Phillips Andover Academy and Colgate University where he was a self-professed underachiever, defying his intense intellect; yet both institutions captured his heart and wallet as a lifelong booster. Phil finally landed at the holy grail of Harvard Law School, to the delight of his uncompromising father; yet the most important outcome of Harvard for Phil was his recognition of the high intelligence and indelible beauty of Wellesley College student Claire Wilkinson.  Phil somehow convinced Claire to marry and move to Springfield (of all places), which is how Christine and Gordon came along.  

With a family formed, adventures began. There were skiing and boating; boating and skiing, with each passion growing in complexity to bigger mountains and more ambitious cruising.  In the early 80s Phil met the 2nd love of his life, a Baba 40 which he named Fiddler, who was nearly as lovely and resilient as Claire.  For 38 years the waters of Boothbay were graced with Fiddler’s classic lines and hard-earned varnish.  Yet Fiddler was too dear to keep hidden Downeast so Phil and Claire exhibited her charms from New Brunswick to Ft. Lauderdale, Bermuda, the Mediterranean, Caribbean and BVI’s.  Phil was rally captain of the Ocean Cruising Club, all this while quietly and competently running a Springfield law firm and serving as head overseer of Capitol Island, of which building the current bridge was one of his most proud stewardships.

Phil’s retirement chapter was anything but. There was barely a X-C location they didn’t ski, a European river they didn’t cruise, nor a music gig Phil didn’t weasel into with his “amateur stand-up bass.” He wholly embraced his role as Papa to his growing brood.  His progeny became “groupies” who laughed, danced and ran up the bar bills.  Even in very old age, Phil never lost his zest for music, travel, humor and people.  Phil’s outgoing personality was opposite to his quiet, intellectual, and loving duty to his ocean cruising, to Capitol Island, to his mother Virginia, wife Claire, daughter Christine, son Gordon and wife Tara, grandchildren Brooks and Grace King, Liana (Noah Sneath) and Eliza Brooks, and many, many friends.  

The word generosity is not just about donating time or money, it’s also about making things HAPPEN – Phil made adventures come to life and we’ve all been enriched.  In memory of Phil’s prodigious energy, keep on dancing, moving, sailing and fiddling!

Believe me my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” So says Ratty to Mole.

Friends are welcome to join the family for an informal gathering to celebrate Phil’s life from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15 at Hall Funeral Home, 975 Wiscasset Road, Boothbay.   

Arrangments are entrusted to Hall Funeral Home in Boothbay. Condolences may be shared with the family at hallfuneralhomes.com