Born 8
October 1932 at Roxbury, Delaware County, New York
Died 12
November 2005 at Roxbury, Delaware County, New York
Philip was
the only child of Bruce F. Caswell and Mildred Virginia Preston Caswell. He was
raised at Roxbury where his father was a painter and paper hanger. Philip
graduated from Roxbury Central High School in 1950 where he was a member of
Yearbook Staff and the school’s soccer team. He graduated from Cornell
University at Ithaca, New York in 1954 and from United States Naval
Postgraduate School at Monterey, California in 1965. Philip served in the
United States Army; often as an Air Defense Artillery Officer specializing in
nuclear effects engineering. He was awarded the Gallantry Cross for initiating
the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam II Corps' highly successful counterattacks
during the TET (lunar new year holiday) offensive in 1968. Philip retired from
military service as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1975. After his retirement from
service, he became a botanist traveling to Wood-Titchik State Park, Lake Clark
National Park and Preserve, and Togiak National Wildlife Refuge, all in Alaska;
and Kluane National Park and Reserve in the Yukon of Canada. In 2005, he was
posthumously awarded the Biodiversity Awareness Award for his work at Kluane.
Phil volunteered thousands of hours to Kluane National Park Reserve,
investigating, collecting and identifying plants from the Park and surrounding
areas; his two greatest Yukon discoveries were Bering Sea Dock, a species new
to Canada, and the rediscovery of Yukon Draba, Canada’s rarest plant. Philip
married to Heidrun "Heidi" M. Bahr on 17 August 1962 at Bremerhaven, Germany. Philip
and Heidrun had no children. He died at his home and his remains cremated and
given to the care of family. His cremains were scattered at his cabin in the hills above his and
Heidi's homestead at Roxbury. The land has since been sold to the state
of New York as a protected watershed for New York City. He was John More Association Jean line cousin
#56241 and my fourth cousin twice removed.
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| Phil's cabin; undated photo used with permission courtesy of Geoffrey Taylor. |
©2017 Cindy Coffell
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