Philip A. Myers, 69, haberdasher par excellence
Memorial services will be held Sunday, Oct. 30, for Philip A. Myers, 69, of Philadelphia, a haberdasher regarded as the epitome of good taste by friends and customers.
Memorial services will be held Sunday, Oct. 30, for Philip A. Myers, 69, of Philadelphia, a haberdasher regarded as the epitome of good taste by friends and customers.
Mr. Myers died Sunday, Oct. 9, of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at his home in Kennedy House in Center City. An unrelated neurological disease had kept him mostly confined there for the last two years.
He was best known for his long career in retail and being beautifully attired, complete with business suit, pocket square, and fedora.
"He was right out of GQ. He was smashing, he really was," said his wife, Ellen G. Kopeland.
Starting in 1970, he was a buyer of men's furnishings and later manager of the men's department at John Wanamaker.
In 1990, he opened his own men's clothing store in Chadds Ford, called Philip Allen LTD. He ran the business for four years until returning to Center City as assistant general manager of the Burberry store.
He retired in 2010 after six years as a sales consultant for the Brooks Bros. store, also in Center City.
His friend Paul Davies, the Inquirer's deputy editorial page editor, described Mr. Myers as "always a dapper dresser and old-school gentleman."
"He taught me how to tie a bow tie before I got married," Davies recalled. "He was a great guy with really good taste. His men's shop was filled with all kinds of neat antiques, hat stretchers, and a brass cash register."
Born in Chambersburg, Pa., Mr. Myers earned a bachelor of science degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1969. He served in the Army during the Vietnam War.
At Kennedy House, where he had lived since 1991, Mr. Myers served as the judge of elections and also tended the rooftop garden, which he started. He liked nothing better than "meeting with four dear friends each day at 10:30 a.m. for coffee and solving the problems of the world," his wife said.
Mr. Myers was married three times, first to Dana Myers, from whom he was divorced; second to Margaret H. Myers, who died in 1984; and finally to Kopeland.
"We met at the Eagle at Wanamakers," she said. "I was selling in the fine jewelry department and manager of Gucci [brand merchandise]. He kept buying fine jewelry. I didn't know he was trying to get to know me."
The two met for dinner in Rittenhouse Square, and from then on, "we had laughter all the time," his wife said.
Kopeland described her husband as "an impeccable dresser with a great sense of humor and warmth that made everyone feel comfortable. He loved to socialize and was the life of the party."
"He was a jack-of-all trades who loved fixing things," Kopeland said.
He had been president of the Kennedy House Investment Club, and president of the Kiwanis Club of Wayne while living there in the 1980s.
Besides his wife, he is survived by a brother, and nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30, in the Kennedy House Community Room, 1901 John F. Kennedy Blvd.
610-313-8102