Obituaries

She moved to Tennessee from Silver Spring about three years ago.

Her husband, Edward C. Phillips, died in 1998. Two sons died, Richard Phillips in 1983 and Thomas Phillips in 1992.

Survivors include a daughter, Ellen P. Matthews of Gray, Tenn.; and four grandchildren.

R. Colin ParkhillElectrical Engineer

Robert Colin Parkhill, 69, an electrical engineer who worked with several broadcasting entities before retiring from Communications Engineering Inc. in Newington in 2000, died of cancer Dec. 29 at his home in Las Cruces, N.M. He was a former resident of Alexandria.

Mr. Parkhill was born in Dublin and was a 1961 electrical engineering graduate of Queens University in Belfast. After graduation, he began working as a field engineer with the British Broadcasting Corporation and then in 1964 with Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in Great Britain.

In 1965, he immigrated to the United States with his new wife, eventually settling in Camden, N.J. He continued his career there with RCA as a product engineering specialist for television stations. He moved to Alexandria in 1974, where he became an RCA broadcast sales representative for the Washington area.

He later held technical positions with Phillips Television Systems Inc., BTS, Sony and King Video Associates in Springfield. He concluded his career as a service engineer with Communications Engineering, providing technical repair and maintenance services to broadcasters, post-production facilities and other audio-visual clients.

He was a member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.

Mr. Parkhill's greatest passion was flying, and he proudly earned his private pilot's license at age 57. He also was infatuated with photography and left a legacy of albums that meticulously documented his world travels and his family. He was an enthusiast of all genres of music and attended concerts regularly.

Mr. Parkhill fulfilled his dream of retiring to a home in the desert in 2004.

Survivors include his wife Ann Parkhill of Las Cruces; two daughters, Caroline Felps of Dallas and Diane Heipel of Richmond; a sister; and two brothers.