Brother Paul Urban Phillipp, FMS died peacefully at De La Salle Hall in Lincroft, New Jersey on Saturday, April 5, 2025. He was 101 years old and in his 85th year of Marist religious life. He was two months shy of his 102nd birthday.
Brother Paul was born on June 10, 1923. He was the son of the late Albert J. and Sophie Zimmerer Phillipp. He entered the Marist Brothers at St. Ann’s Hermitage in Poughkeepsie, NY in 1939, received the Marist habit in 1940 and made his profession of first vows in 1941. He studied at the Marist Scholasticate (1941-43) and was then assigned to St. Joseph Academy in Laredo, TX as a teacher (1943-46). He made his final profession of vows in 1946 in Esopus, NY and professed the vow of stability in 1959.
Brother Paul was assigned to St. Joseph Academy in Brownsville, TX (1946-62). During his time there, he served as a teacher, builder and planner. After having completed a BA in History from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, TX, he did graduate studies in various areas at Texas A&M, Kansas State University and completed an M Ed in Administration/Supervision from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. He did further graduate studies at University of Georgia, the University of Idaho and Southern Oregon University.
In 1961, he participated in the Second Novitiate Renewal Program at St. Paul-Trois-Chateaux, France. Upon his return to the USA, he became assistant principal at Msgr. Pace High School in Opa Locka, FL (1962-66). He was then assigned to Aquinas High School in Augusta, GA for the next twelve years as a teacher (1966-72), an assistant principal/planner (1972-79) and principal (1979-84).
Brother Paul then returned to St. Joseph Academy in Brownsville, TX where he served as a teacher/builder (1984-96) and as a facilities manager (1996-2009). During this period, he participated in the Marist Brothers 3rd Age Renewal Program in Rome, Italy (1988). In 2006 he took a sabbatical period at the School of Applied Theology in Oakland, CA. He returned to St. Joseph Academy in Brownsville in a semi-retired capacity where he remained until he retired to Champagnat Hall in the Bronx, NY in 2021. In 2023 he moved to De La Salle Hall in Lincroft, NJ where he was living at time of his death.
In addition to his parents, Brother Paul was pre-deceased by two brothers, Lawrence and Donald Henry. He is survived by three brothers, Francis, Steven and Brother Albert Philipp, FMS; three sisters, Sister Mary Ann, CDP, Sister Bernadette, CDP and Rita Fay Schreiber. He is also survived by his Marist Brothers.
Oh, what consolation we have, when about to appear before God, to remember that we have lived in the favor of Mary, and in her own Society. – St. Marcellin Champagnat
