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Phil Damery

October 2, 2025

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Phil Damery, affectionately known as Grandpa Duck, passed away peacefully on the evening of Thursday, October 2, 2025, surrounded by his loving family. Phil was an amazing son, husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He was a veteran of the National Guard, captain of Cheap Tours, as well as a good friend to all who knew him.

Phil called Blue Mound, Illinois, which he referred to as the center of the world, home for most of his life. Though vertically challenged, he lived life large, embracing every moment with enthusiasm and warmth. He never met a stranger and had a unique gift for brightening the day of every child he encountered, greeting them with his signature Donald Duck voice that brought smiles nearly every time.

Known for his quick wit and an endless supply of dad jokes, Phil’s humor remained sharp and infectious right up to the very end. While there will be no immediate service, a celebration of his life will be planned soon, complete with a keg per his request.

The family invites all who knew Phillip to share their stories and memories in the comments below. Your reflections and remembrances are a cherished part of honoring a man who touched so many lives.

Memorials can be given to Shriners Hospital, 4400 Clayton Ave. St. Louis, MO 63110

https://donate.shrinerschildrens.org/give/716571/#!/donation/checkout?c_src=shrinerschildrens&c_src2=main-nav

Guestbook

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Although Phil was several years older than me he still was a memorable part of my childhood. Whether playing guard on the Knights basketball teams or wearing his coconut bra in the school production of South Pacific. As as adult he, Linda and kids lived three houses from Mom and Dad and as my parents aged they kept an eye my parents for David and me. Small in stature? Not in the ways that count. He was a giant.

Posted by Gail R Edmunds on October 9, 2025

I was very caught off guard to hear about Phil passing. I send nothing but love and positivity to all the family.

Posted by Heather (Niemuth) Strissel on October 8, 2025

Linda and family: I always thought Phil was MY Best Friend. But he wasn’t. Although we spent hours and hours on a baseball field and basketball court together, and although we double dated on many occasions in HS, and although we did sleep-overs after basketball games, and although, after a basketball tournament he stayed at my house and was up in the middle of the night helping me with a sow that was birthing piglets, (he knew more about furnaces in those days than delivering pigs), and although we did many other things together that are best not mentioned here today, HE WAS NOT MY BEST FRIEND. Because: I’ve discovered in the past few days since his passing that he had hundreds of best friends. Everyone wanted to be his best friend. All of the posts have made that perfectly clear that Phil had many besties. Victoria and I will always remember the class of ’61 visit to our home in Minnesota. That was a wonderful few days to have you Phil and others as guests at our home. Please know how special it was to have you at our home and how much we enjoyed those few days. With sympathy and love to you and family, Fred and Victoria Fuehrer

Posted by Fred Fuehrer on October 5, 2025

Rest in peace my friend,cousin,Brother Mason and Shriner. Thinking of you Linda and family. Debbie and I enjoyed our dinners and will miss them

Posted by Mike Damery on October 5, 2025

I have a lot of great memories of Phil. My favorite, though, is the time unbeknownst to us, our cats crawled up under the car to stay warm and somehow survived the ride to church. After church was dismissed and we were leaving I declared to my mom those cats running around in the church yard were OUR cats! My mom who was never a pet person and never liked to have attention drawn to her, first did not believe me the cats were ours and secondly, I am sure could have crawled in a hole when Phil and some other Sunday School classmates tried to help us catch them in a scene similar to Ray Stevens' Mississippi Squirrel Revival. Thanks to Phil and others, the cats were eventually caught. They rode with us IN the car on the way home. They were indeed OUR cats.

Posted by Michelle Downs on October 4, 2025

Phil was a wonderful man. I’ll never forget the beautiful day he and Linda took us (George, Tom & me) boating on the Gulf of Mexico. It was such a special day that I’ll cherish forever. Who knew how soon we would lose both George and Phil. ♥️

Posted by Cathy Meisenhelter Baba on October 3, 2025

Phil was just a great man. I loved his zest for life! I remember watching him teach Carson to waterski by holding her on his neck! He will be greatly missed.

Posted by Kim Beck Carlock on October 3, 2025

I had the pleasure of playing high school athletics with Phil and being a lifelong friend.. We played 3 yrs of varsity basketball together with a very memorable yr in 1960 when we ended our year against Running Reds of Stephen Decatur in Sectional Finals, an ancient time when there was only one class in sports. The Reds went on to get 3rd in State and same team won State Championship in 1961. It was a very close game to the end; Phil and Al Risby, same height, guard each other and trashed talked all the way thru the game... It was helirious. Al was shooting a free throw, Phil was trash talking him. Al put the ball under his arm, looked at Phil and said, "Don't worry, I have this little man covered!" All us players laughed... Al made the free throw but that didn't stop the talking. It was so much fun being Phil's team mate. He was our spark plug!! He always lote the room up. We will all miss you Phil. Norm Moss

Posted by Norm Moss on October 3, 2025

I was friends with Nate and met Phil during the numerous boat trips he organized for Nate’s friends. Phil was an outstanding man—funny, kind, and a wonderful host. He always ensured everyone was enjoying themselves. He will be missed by many.

Posted by Brian Grant on October 3, 2025