The Canadian Unitarian Universalist faith community has lost a remarkable and influential member. Rev. Dr. Philip Hewett passed away on Feb 24. Rev. Steven Epperson, minister of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver, posted this message:
The Rev. Dr. Phillip Hewett, Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver, died Saturday, February 24, 2018. He suffered a massive stroke on Tuesday, the 20th and never regained consciousness. His children Daphne and Barton attended him in his last days in the hospital.
Unitarian ministers of the BC Lower Mainland cluster saw him just days before his stroke: he was sound of mind and body, and was so pleased that a commemorative booklet containing tributes and a selection of his sermons had been published and presented to him at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver on the occasion of his 93rd birthday, February 10th.
Updates about a celebration of his life will be shared as they are made available.
David Suzuki shared this tribute: Phillip Hewett was an enthusiastic and devoted member of the Elders Council of the David Suzuki Foundation. He added so much dignity and grace to our group and brought with him a deep spiritual perspective through which to view our relationship with the world. He delivered a magnificent opening for a film we showed on the Salmon/Forest, pointing out the interconnections in all of nature. As I watched him becoming frail with age, he never lost his commitment to our group and never lost his dignity or sense of humour. Phillip’s life was an uplifting inspiration to so many of us who got to know him. I will miss him enormously but carry a part of him in my memories.