Phillip H. Gifford II
Marriages
Evalee McKay - 1965
Obituaries
The Daily Sentinel page 9B - August 6, 2023
Phillip H. Gifford II was
born to Phillip H. Gifford
and Eva Sandrock Gifford on
August 17, 1930, in Urbana,
Ohio. After a few years of
poor health, he passed away
at home on June 15, 2023, in
Grand Junction, Colorado.
He was 92 years old.
Spending his childhood
in Urbana, and shortly after graduating from Urbana
High School, he joined the United States Air Force. He
qualified for the Monterey Army Language School and became fluent in Yugoslavian; consequently, he was stationed
in Germany listening to the sky over Yugoslavia during
the cold war. Receiving an honorable discharge, he and
his wife and son returned to Ohio where he enrolled in a
combination Bachelors/Masters four-year degree at The
Ohio State University under the G.I. Bill. He majored in
Chemical Engineering and was inducted into the three honor societies of Math, Chemistry and Engineering. He continued at the university, receiving his doctorate in Chemical
Engineering in 1961. During those years, he always raised
an incredible garden, a fact that has always been a good
memory for his son, Phil, who learned and carried on the
tradition.
He worked for various oil companies for most of his career as a research engineer on various oil shale research
programs, and also worked on his own developing two patents. He always chose the research side in any company,
never the management side.
When his first came to Colorado, he knew this would
always be his first choice as a permanent home. In 1965, he
married Evalee McKay of Parachute, Colorado, and when
her family purchased Beaver Lake Lodge in Marble, Phil
and Evalee bought a home in Marble and helped her family with the lodge. He loved the wilderness surrounding
Marble and spent much of his free time hiking in that wilderness and along the way taught his children to love all
wilderness. The Marble home was one the Gifford family always returned to when an oil shale project ended. In
1991, when his last project ended, Phil retired and he and
Evalee returned to Marble and lived there until 2000 when
they sold the Marble home and moved to Grand Junction.
Another place that wasimportant to Phil wasthe Sonoran
desert around Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on
the border south of Ajo, Arizona. The family spent many
years camping and hiking in the Monument and surrounding BLM, often with friends, and always with their children, Connor and Matt. Later, Phil and Evalee were able to
spend part of their winters in the family house in Ajo.
When Phil retired and had more time, he enjoyed reading Civil War history, and he even made some trips to Civil
War battlegrounds. He also enjoyed working extremely difficult math problems. Last, but not least, he enjoyed Ohio
State football. While a student at the University, he never
missed their home games and he continued following them
for the rest of his life. Go Buckeyes!
He was pre-deceased by his parents and his two sisters, Donna Kessler of Urbana, Ohio, and Frances Black of
Cable, Ohio, and his brothers-in-law, Ken Kessler and Bob
Black. In addition to his wife, Evalee, he is survived by his
daughter, Connor, of Phoenix, Arizona, and hissons, Phillip
(Carol) of Norfolk, Virginia, and Matthew (Angelique) of
Carbondale, Colorado, his granddaughters, Tonya Bennett
and Kyle Newton, and his four great-grandchildren, Jasper,
Mas, Felix and Margot, all of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and
his grandson, Hunter Gifford, of Carbondale, Colorado.
His is also survived by several nieces and nephews.
Per his wishes, there were no services. Private burial has taken place in the Battlement Mesa Cemetery in
Parachute, CO.