Phillip S. Haisley

With sorrow we announce the death of Phil Haisley, who was born and raised in Marion. His first job was as Quaker minister to two small churches. At 19, he married his 16-year-old girlfriend. Two years later they had a son, Mark. Phil taught for a while in California, then when he and his first wife split up, Phil took Mark to Kenya where he taught in a Quaker school and initiated a program to integrate the school and encourage village children to enroll.

When Phil and Mark returned to the US, Phil pursued a PhD in African-American literature. He held a variety of jobs in this period: bodyguard, lifeguard, drive-in theater director, then teaching school while working second shift at GM’s Fisher Body plant. His PhD advisor’s sudden death derailed Phil’s PhD. But his teaching career was extensive, including all levels from 1st grade to grad school, teaching English, French, Spanish, and teacher ed classes. He taught at Queens College and spent two years teaching in Australia.