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Phil Hamilton, Citizen editor, writer
Longtime Tucson Citizen reporter and editor Phil Hamilton, whose career in journalism spanned 50 years, died today at St. Joseph’s Hospital of heart failure. He was 60.
Mr. Hamilton joined the Citizen in 1971 as a reporter. He became an assistant city editor in 1972 and went on to serve as a political writer and columnist, as well as sports editor and state news editor. He retired earlier this year.
Hamilton’s newspaper career began at age 10, when he started working for the Broken Bow (Okla.) News, which was owned by his father, the late Samuel A. Hamilton Jr.
He attended three Oklahoma colleges in the mid-1950s, studying engineering, but went back into journalism following the death of his father in 1956.
He later worked at the Lovington (N.M.) Daily Leader, Abilene (Texas) Reporter News, the Curry County (N.M.) Times, the San Angelo (Texas) Standard-Times and the Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal.
Mr. Hamilton was active in the Broadway Christian Church, serving in many positions, including chairman of church’s board of trustees.
He also was active in youth sports in Tucson, particularly Little League baseball, and was one of the founders of the Tucson Youth Winter Baseball League.
Mr. Hamilton is survived by his wife, Kathy; a son, Patrick, of Las Vegas, Nev.; a daughter, Paula, of Tucson; and three grandchildren.
A memorial service is pending.
(Dated Dec 14, 1996)
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Memorial set for Citizen’s Phil Hamilton
A memorial service for Phil Hamilton, a longtime Tucson Citizen reporter and editor, will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Broadway Christian Church, 4741 E. Broadway.
Coffee will be served in the church’s Fellowship Hall after the service.
Mr. Hamilton died Saturday of heart failure at St. Joseph’s Hospital. He was 60.
Mr. Hamilton joined the Citizen in 1971 as a reporter, became an assistant city editor in 1972 and went on to serve as a political writer and columnist, as well as sports editor and state news editor. He also worked for the Citizen as a copy editor.
He retired earlier this year.
Mr. Hamilton’s newspaper career began 50 years ago, when, at age 10, he went to work for the Broken Bow (Okla.) News, which was owned by his father, the late Samuel A. Hamilton Jr.
(Dated Dec 16, 1996)
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Parks chief Jones devoted to his job
He’ll be remembered tomorrow by family and friends who plan to celebrate his life.
Harold Ray ”Bob” Jones, a former superintendent of Saguaro National Monument, will be remembered tomorrow at a gathering of friends and family.
Mr. Jones, 71, died Saturday of heart disease in his Tucson home.
The gathering to celebrate his life will begin at 1 p.m. tomorrow at the home of George and Alice Hanley, 10644 E. Speedway Blvd., one-half mile east of Houghton Road.
Mr. Jones was superintendent of the monument, which is now a national park, from 1967 to 1972.
In 1968, he received the Interior Department’s Meritorious Service Award, its second-highest honor, family members said.
Mr. Jones was born in California and grew up in Loveland, Colo. He served in the Marine Corps in World War II and graduated from Colorado A&M with a degree in forestry and recreation management.
He went on to a 34-year career with the National Park Service, including assignments to Rocky Mountain National Park; Wind Cave National Park; Scott’s Bluff, N.M.; Catoctin Mountain Park; and the agency’s Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Omaha offices.
As a park planner during the 1960s, he worked on studies that resulted in many additions to the national park system, family members said. He also helped to plan parks in east Africa and Panama.
After his retirement, he and his wife, Patricia Ann Jones, returned to Tucson to live.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Jones is survived by his four sons, Charley, Mike and Scott of Tucson and Richard of Clinton, Miss.; five grandchildren and three older brothers.
(Dated Dec 20, 1996)
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MDA chief dead at 83
Dr. S. Mouchly Small, president emeritus of the Tucson-based Muscular Dystrophy Association, has died. He was 83.
Dr. Small, who was also chairman of the MDA’s Executive Committee, had been suffering from pancreatic cancer when he died Friday night at Hospice Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y.
Dr. Small served as president of the Tucson-based MDA from 1980 to 1989, and as Executive Committee chairman from 1989 until his death. He had been a director of the MDA since 1974.
”Saul Small was an exemplar of volunteer leadership. Saul’s wise counsel and personal commitment to help people affected with degenerative neuromuscular diseases had a profound effect on shaping MDA,” Robert Ross, senior vice president and director of MDA, said. ”A statesman’s statesman, he’ll be deeply missed.”
A Buffalo native, Dr. Small earned his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College in 1937, graduating at the top of his class. He was professor and chairman of the department of psychiatry at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine for 35 years.
Dr. Small was a director of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and was a 1976 recipient of the E.B. Bowis Award from the American College of Psychiatrists for outstanding contributions in the field. He was the author of more than 100 articles and papers.
He is survived by his wife, Sophie Small; four children and six grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
(Dated Dec 23, 1996)
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Service tomorrow for school founder Fenster
George J. Fenster, who with his wife started a school here in 1944, is dead at 88.
Building on a foundation of caring and a healthful climate, George J. Fenster and F. Kitty Fenster founded a private school for sick children in 1944 on what was then Tucson’s Northeast Side.
Though the couple turned the school’s operation over to a non-profit foundation in 1965, and in 1972 it moved from 3300 E. Blacklidge Drive to a new campus near Sabino Canyon at 8500 E. Ocotillo Drive, the school still bears their name – Fenster School of Southern Arizona.
Mr. Fenster, 88, died Sunday at Tucson Medical Center.
A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. tomorrow at Evergreen Mortuary and Cemetery, 3015 N. Oracle Road. Burial is to follow at the Congregation Anshei Israel Section of the cemetery.
He had been in declining health for a few years, but was in the hospital only one day before his death, said his son, Kenneth Fenster, who lives in Tucson. ”He was astute and alert up until the end.”
He also was active on the board of trustees for Fenster School until recently, said his daughter, Bev Gammon, of San Diego.
”Bringing children to Tucson and watching them get well was very rewarding,” Gammon said. ”It was quite a success story for the children.”
”He was a lover of kids and he was a good person,” added Kenneth Fenster. ”He could find good in everyone and he could bring it out of them. He was filled with joy and that’s how he lived his life.”
He was born in Brooklyn and married there 67 years ago, Gammon said. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1928.
He was a comptroller for Consolidated Laundries Inc. in New York, but prompted mainly by Mr. Fenster’s debilitating arthritis, the couple came to Tucson in 1941.
He took an accountant’s job with M.M. Sundt Construction Co., and was involved in the construction of Fort Huachuca and Marana Air Base – now called Pinal Air Park.
Later, he worked as an auditor for Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Co., a Tucson builder of B-24s and B-29s.
His wife was a teacher.
The healing climate of Tucson and the needs of children from other areas of the country led the couple to take in children and work to improve the youngsters’ health while giving them an education.
They opened Fenster Ranch School in 1944.
Besides his wife, Kitty, of Tucson and his two children, Mr. Fenster is survived by four grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Donations in Mr. Fenster’s name can be made to Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, 2221 N. Rosemont Ave., Tucson, 85712.
(Dated Dec 25, 1996)
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TUSD teacher, coach Carrier
Elmer G. Carrier, a founder of the Tucson Urban League, worked to break down racial barriers.
Memorial services will be held tomorrow for Elmer G. Carrier, a teacher and coach in Tucson Unified School District and a founding member of the Tucson Urban League.
Mr. Carrier died Sunday after a brief illness. He was 86.
The services will begin at 11 a.m. at Abbey’s Funeral Chapel, 3435 N. First Ave.
”He was always interested in helping people,” said his daughter Susie Carrier. ”He was dedicated to education and to his students. He stood for high work ethics in everything he did.”
She recalled that during the days of segregation, he was one of five people who picketed in front of a drugstore at Stone Avenue and Pennington Street ”to help break down racial barriers in Tucson.”
He began his career in 1937 as a teacher and coach at Dunbar School, once an all-black school in Tucson District 1 (now Tucson Unified School District).
Mr. Carrier worked much of his career to bring integration to Tucson schools.
In 1951 he transferred to Safford Junior High where he taught and coached until 1970.
In the fall of 1970, he was named principal of Utterback Junior High (now Utterback Middle School). He retired from education in 1976.
He was inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame on June 25, 1995, for his contributions in coaching and umpiring for Tucson Parks and Recreation.
Also, he served for 16 years on the Human Relations Commission, and was a founding member of the Urban League.
Mr. Carrier was a member of the National Education Association, the NAACP, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and Prince-Hall Masons.
He served as a board member of several organizations including the Arizona Children’s Colony, the Commission on Human Relations, the Council for Civic Unity, Tucson Youth Development and the Tucson Boy’s Club, his daughter said.
He was born in Beaumont, Texas, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arizona.
He received a master’s degree in education administration from UA.
In addition to his daughter Susie, Mr. Carrier is survived by his wife of 60 years, Woodie D. Carrier; son William and daughter Monica Carrier, all of Tucson.
(Dated Dec 26, 1996)
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