Philip Andrew Young was born to Andrew Young Jr. and Juanita Boal Young in Columbia, Missouri and grew up in Dodge City and Salina, Kansas. Philip lived a full life, though sustaining multiple cancers over the years. He died comfortably at home attended by his wife and children.

In 1964, he left the University of Kansas to join the Peace Corps. He served in Turkey—a village near the Syrian border and later in Ankara, developing a fluency in the language and a love for the culture. Revisiting Turkey 50 years later he noted the enduring impact of the Peace Corps was the opportunity to be a guest in another culture and to experience the world through a different lens.

The Peace Corp experience led to an interest in language and cultural studies and he completed BA and MA degrees in Geography and Anthropology at KU. His studies in ethnolinguistics led to summers in Washington and Canada recording stories of native speakers and developing a phonology of the Okanagan language. These tapes were restored to the Salish School in Spokane, WA in 2024 where they are now being used to teach a new generation of native speakers.

By training and practice he was an "Action Anthropologist"; by job title he was a College Administrator. In 1971 he joined the faculty at Wilmington College, a Quaker school in Ohio, taking a central role in reshaping academic studies along lines of interdisciplinary instruction and individualized degrees.

Philip later took direction of the college's venture program in a nearby prison, expanding it from a few night classes to a full time degree program for inmates. At the time, there was no template for higher education in prisons, but Philip made one–forging inter-organizational partnerships between colleges and corrections that made it possible and profitable for both. Project Talents and Project Enterprise established a model for higher education in prisons around the country.

In 1987 he brought his leadership in innovative educational programs to Peninsula College in Port Angeles, first as Director of Inmate Education at Clallam Bay Correctional Center and later as Director of the Performance Institute. The Institute was contracted by the Department of Corrections to design and deliver the statewide Correctional Worker Core Academy and workplace COACH programs, which earned AA and AAS degrees for hundreds of officers. He retired in 2011 and continued to consult with the DOC on special projects related to prison safety through 2014.

Given another career, Philip would have chosen acting. He appeared in many roles on many stages: The Little Theater, Community Players, OTA and PALOA. He embraced all aspects of playmaking—rehearsals, memorizing lines, character building, directing, and of course, performing.

Raised in the Episcopal Church, Philip found spiritual grounding in Quaker Meetings (Society of Friends) where inner direction connected to engagement in social justice and prison reform. In uncertainty, he trusted that "a way will open." He could read the sense in a room as well as listen deeply to what was in your heart. He understood  that our paths in life are not always clear. From the Journal of John Woolman he often quoted this passage: "I have gone forward, not as one traveling in a road cast up, and well-prepared, but as a man walking through a miry place, in which are stones here and there, safe to step on, but so situated that one step being taken, time is necessary to see where to step next."

By far Philip's greatest joy in life was being a champion and witness to the lives of his children.   He was the father of four: Christopher Philip (deceased), Kimberly Justine (Carpenter) and Jeremy Andrew with first wife, Priscilla Haynes; daughter Jessie Alexandra, with his wife, Cheryl Young.

Philip is survived by his wife of 43 years, Cheryl and his three children: Kimberly (Paul), Jeremy (Casey), and Jessie; grandchildren: Timothy, Stevie, Isaac and Heidi; great grandchildren: Arizona and Micah; sister Jincy Fletcher and brother David Young. He is preceded in death by his son, Christopher and his parents, Andrew Jr. and Juanita Young.

A Celebration of Life will be held at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church on September 21 at 2:00 pm. -reception following. With deep gratitude, the family invites donations in Philip's memory to Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County, 829 E 8th Street, Port Angeles, WA 98362 and the Salish School of Spokane. https://www.salishschoolofspokane.org/help-salish.

Drennan & Ford Funeral Home in Port Angeles is entrusted with his arrangements. Please sign the online guestbook for his family at www.drennanford.com .