Philip Michael Daniels was born Nov. 12, 1945, in Seattle, Washington, and passed away unexpectedly Aug. 10, 2024, at Providence Centralia Hospital in Centralia, Washington.
He was the fifth of seven children of Joseph and Marjorie (Miller) Daniels. After his graduation from Queen Anne High School in Seattle, Phil proudly served in the U.S. Navy with two tours to Vietnam.
Following his service years, he attended Western Washington State College in Bellingham, where he espied a blonde woman walking in the campus neighborhood and asked his friend who she was. Thus began the love story of Beckie Kemmerer and Phil Daniels. He courted her in his 1959 Austin-Healey English sports car, a car he would later rebuild as a retirement project. This passion led to his many years of active participation in numerous local, regional and national Healey clubs. Phil and Beckie were married June 15, 1974, and had just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to Victoria, B.C. They were graced with two remarkable children, Natalie and Mike. He was an active dad in their Camp Fire, Boy Scouts and Little League activities, and was so very proud of the adults they have become. In his professional life, he was an instrumentation and controls engineer for the Wastewater Treatment Division of King County, Washington, designing the control systems for such projects as the West Point treatment plant in Seattle and Brightwater treatment plant in Woodinville. Upon retiring in 2011, he and Beckie moved out of suburbia to the beautiful forested countryside east of Onalaska, Washington.
Phil was predeceased by his parents; sister, Maureen “Bebe” Ford; and brothers, Joe, Steve (and his wife, Carole), Jim and Dan Daniels. He is survived by his wife, Beckie; daughter, Natalie (husband Jon) Wilkie; son, Mike Daniels (partner Carley Luehrs); brother, John (wife Nikki) Daniels; and sisters-in-law, Phyllis, Carol and Mary Daniels. With that many siblings, of course there are three generations of nieces and nephews
He will be buried with full military honors in a private ceremony at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent. A celebration of life will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 8, at the Veterans Memorial Museum, 100 SW Veterans Way, Chehalis, Washington. All are welcome. Casual dress; remember, Phil was a jeans and T-shirt guy!
Arrangements are under the care of Cattermole Funeral Home, Winlock, Washington, cattermolefh.com
