Herbert E. Phillips

Herb Phillips, former chairman of the Southampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals for 15 years and on the board for 21 years, died on December 13, 2019, after complications from chemotherapy. He was 73.

A native of Quogue, Mr. Phillips was born in Southampton on November 24, 1946, the same day as his father and his first-born daughter. He graduated from Westhampton Beach High School in 1964. After graduating from Humbolt University in Arcata, California, with a degree in biology and oceangraphy, he spent more than six years in the U.S. Navy as a bombardier/navigator, flying the A-6 Intruder aircraft off the U.S.S. Saratoga with VA-75, with the collateral duties of legal officer and aircraft division officer.

Mr. Phillips returned to New York after the Navy and became a real estate broker in 1980, working for Sea Realty. In 1983 he joined the Westhampton Rotary, serving as president in 1987 to 1988, and running the golf tournaments for more than two decades, raising money for Camp Paquatuck and other Rotary charities. He was a member of the Westhampton Beach School Board for 11 years, having served as president twice, 1988 to 1989 and 1995 to 1996.

In 1996, he opened his own office, Phillips Beach Realty. In 2012 he sold the business to Town and Country and continued to work in real estate. He retired from the ZBA in 2016 and split his time between Westhampton and Naples, Florida.

Mr. Phillips was proud of his family’s local heritage, which dates back hundreds of years. In his retirement, he enjoyed playing golf “only seven days a week.”

He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Beth; two daughters, Erika Smith and husband Matt, and Kirsten Mett and husband Shawn; four grandchildren Julia, Kevin, Ellie, Andie; and a large extended family. He was predeceased by his parents, Jane Phillips Hildebrand and Herbert Phillips; stepfather Martin Hildebrand; and brother Sid Phillips.

The family will receive friends at Werner-Rothwell Funeral Home in Westhampton Beach on Sunday, December 22, from 1 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.

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