Dr. W Philip Phair 1921 - 2003

BARTLETT, PHAIR, BRINTON

Posted By: Marguerite (email)
Date: 4/1/2003 at 13:53:08

LENSING FUNERAL AND CREMATION SERVICE 319-338-8171

Dr. W Philip Phair, 81, 701 Oaknoll Drive, Iowa City died at his home Thursday, March 27, 2003.

Funeral Services will be held Thursday, April 3, 2003, at 4PM at Lensing Funeral Service with a reception to follow. Graveside Services will be held Friday, April 4, 2003 at 1PM at South Oak Grove Cemetery in Stuart, Iowa.

Memorials may be directed to the University of Iowa Foundation for the College of Dentistry, Iowa City, Iowa 52245 or Oaknoll Retirement Residence, 701 Oaknoll Drive, Iowa City, Iowa 52246.

Dr. Phair was born April 19, 1921, in Limestone, Maine, to Philip Andrew and Annie Bartlett Phair. He graduated from Limestone High School and Richer College, Houlton, Maine. After working for a short period in Hartford, Connecticut, he enrolled in the University of Iowa College of Dentistry and received his D.D.S. degree in 1945. He was in the U.S. Navy Reserve from 1942 to 1954, with active duty as Lt. (jg) from 1945 to 1947. In 1948, he received a Master’s of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan. For two years, he was Director of Dental Health for the Washington State Health Department, Seattle. Dr. Phair was a founder and first President of the Washington unit of the American Society of Dentistry for Children. He taught part time at the University of Washington. From 1950 to 1954, he was Assistant Secretary and then Secretary of the Council on Dental Health, American Dental Association, Chicago, Illinois, where he played an important role in the acceptance of fluoride in drinking water. Dr. Phair had a full-time private practice in general dentistry in Glenview, Illinois, from 1955 to 1968.

In 1968, Dr. Phair became Professor and Head of the Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry at the University of Iowa, where he established a nationally recognized department. He retired in 1983 as Professor Emeritus.

Dr. Phair was an active member of a number of professional organizations including the Odontographic Society, Chicago; American and Iowa Dental Associations; Omicron Kappa Upsilon; a fellow in both the American and International Colleges of Dentists. He received the Distinguished Educator Award for outstanding contributions to Dental Education in 1983. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Delta Sigma Delta, Golden K Kiwanis, Grayhawks and the University of Iowa Alumni Association.

Survivors are his wife of 58 years, Elaine Brinton Phair, whom he married in 1944 at Stuart, Iowa; two sons, Craig and his wife, Lucinda, of New Brighton, Minnesota and their son Eric and Paul and his wife, Beverly, of Tampa, Florida and their children Josh and Julie; and three sisters who live in California.

He was preceded in death by his parents.