Phil Sunshine

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Phil Sunshine, a kind and gentle man, a beloved teacher, forever a student and lover of cultures, countries, religions, people. 

After years battling many serious illnesses, on July 24th, Phil passed at age 81 due to heart failure at home in bed, listening to the music of his favorite composer, Johan Sibelius. Phil is survived by his wife of 52 years, Jody (Judith), their daughter, Hester, daughter in law Honey, Howie and Charley, the big brown dogs, and Mary Rooney, the indomitable cat.

Phil's love of learning started at an early age, though he came from an immigrant family from Eastern Europe with limited education. While his mother never learned to read or write. Phil, the youngest of three sons, attended the prestigious Stuyvesant High School, and from there went to Brooklyn College where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. After that he was awarded a Woodrow Wilson full scholarship to Harvard. Unable to afford room and board at Harvard, he used the fellowship to go to Columbia University where he received two advanced degrees in History.

He spent his 30 year career sharing his passion for learning, reading and history with high school students at Seward Park High and was even the Dean of Discipline for a time, though Dean Sunshine was remembered as the nicest Dean there ever was. 

Throughout their married years Phil and Jody loved renovating properties together. They lived in and worked on a number of special homes including a Victorian Brooklyn brownstone, a ramshackle Woodstock house a Vermont farmhouse, and an industrial loft in Tribeca. in 1996 Phil and Jody retired from the New York City school system and the family moved to Santa Fe New Mexico where they renovated their final adobe style home. 

Retirement in Santa Fe did not stop Phil from learning and growing his knowledge or his library. He spent his time studying cultures, languages, and their histories. Phil was active politically and would often recall a favorite memory of getting hugged by Michelle Obama when she came to Santa Fe in 2016 to campaign. He volunteered at the Council on International Relations, where he led tours for groups of visitors from foreign countries, and in his spare time he took classes in Chinese and Italian, and was studying Finnish at the time of his passing to read the epic poem, The Kalavala. 

Phil Sunshine was a treasure of a man and the world is a better place because of his time in it.