Obituary of Roger Phillips

ROGER PHILLIPS Roger Phillips died peacefully at home Wednesday morning, January 30, 2013 after a brief final struggle with metastatic liver disease. Dearly beloved husband and father of Ann and Andre, he is also survived by his grandchildren Meaghan Isabel and Connor Matthew Haugh, his sisters Norma Siddiqui (Fakhari) and Onolee Whicher (Kenneth), nieces and nephews Shahauna Siddiqui (Peter Zyla), Shaheen Siddiqui (Robin Shropshire) and Sabrina Siddiqui, Philip Whicher (Sheena) and Elizabeth Whicher, son-in-law Connor Joseph Haugh, brother-in-law Douglas Wilson, aunt Judi Marshall, close cousins, and hundreds of distant cousins whom he painstakingly identified through genealogical research. His parents, Norman and Betty Phillips, and his brother Donald predeceased him. Born in Ottawa in 1939, he spent his childhood in Kingston, ON and Arvida, QC. After graduating in Science from McGill University, he began a 22 year career with the Alcan Inc. group of companies, rising to the position of vice president and chief technical officer of what is now Alcan Inc. and president of its subsidiary Alcan International Ltd. In 1982, he accepted the position of president and chief executive officer of IPSCO Inc. in Regina, and remained in that position for twenty years until his retirement. He served as a director on the boards of several companies, including Toronto Dominion Bank, Inco Limited, Canadian Pacific Railway, Imperial Oil Limited and Cliffs Natural Resources Limited. His interests over the years included the Canadian Unity Council, the Chambers of Commerce of Quebec (which he served as president) and Saskatchewan, the Economic Council of Canada, co-chair of the Canadian Steel Trade and Employment Congress, the Business Council on National Issues, the Public Policy Forum. He was a member of several scientific organizations including the Institute of Physics, the Canadian Association of Physicists, the American Physical Society, and the American Geophysical Union. In 1992, he was named a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in the United Kingdom. He was named an officer of the Order of Canada in 1999 and received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2002. Also in 2002, he became the first Canadian to be awarded the Gary Memorial Medal of the American Iron and Steel Institute for services to the North American steel industry. His hobbies were gardening, sailing and genealogical research. There will be no funeral. Arrangements will be made later for an event to honour his life. If desired, friends may donate to the United Way of Regina, 1440 Scarth Street, Regina, SK, S4R 2E9 or the Regina Food Bank, 445 Winnipeg Street, Regina, SK, S4R 8P2 or the charity of their choice. To leave an online message, please visit www.speersfuneralchapel.com.