| Notes |
- Phil Reader was born to Ralph L. and Bessie M. Reader in Santa Cruz, California. During his first year of life, Phil's family settled in the unincorporated farming community of Live Oak, where Phil and his brothers attended Live Oak School. Phil's parents were Santa Cruz Boy Scouts of America den leaders (Troop 75) and all of the boys entered into scouting. However, Phil's mother had specially nurtured the youngster with the intent that he would eventually enter the Catholic priesthood, and accordingly enrolled him at Holy Cross High School. Graduating in 1959, Phil was interested in education, and became involved in the organization of Cabrillo College. He attended classes in art and music while the campus was still located in Watsonville, CA. Earlier, his father had taught Phil to play the guitar, and building on this skill, he quickly learned and mastered the banjo, fiddle, bass, and played the recorder and harmonica as well. While still at college, Phil expanded his passion for old Folk and American roots music, and led a local folk trio in Santa Cruz which played at local events. His group recorded and released two 45rpm recordings. Playing at an in-home party at Branciforte in 1964, Phil met, and soon after married, Martha Benet Bowersock. This union produced three children--Joshua, Jenny, and Johnna. Phil became involved in local Democratic party politics, and became involved with the Democratic Central Committee of Santa Cruz County. He was also a labor organizer-activist and an officer in the local AFL-CIO. In his spare time, Phil pursued his affinity for storytelling as a freelance writer specializing in fiction and television screenwriting. Turning a new page in his life, in 1977 Phil met and married Lorraine Francine Brown, expanding his role as a dedicated family man with two additional daughters, Sondra and Terri. In the latter 1970s, Phil became a self-taught genealogist and historical researcher. In the 1990s he wrote and published a number of articles and booklets on local Santa Cruz history, and later published a volume about Santa Cruz law and order. Phil was a great storyteller and a devoted grandparent. In the early 2000s, he was instrumental in the restoration of monuments, headstones, plots, and overall beautification of the Old Holy Cross Cemetery, where he was laid to rest in 2014.
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1940 - 2014 (73 years)
