Philip Wylie Coulter

April 19, 1938 - November 27, 2020

Philip Wylie Coulter passed on Friday, November 27, 2020, in Orlando, Florida, where he resided. He was born on April 19, 1938, to parents Leonard Coulter and Winslow Gullatt Coulter in Phenix City, Alabama. He graduated Central High School in Phenix City in 1956. He graduated the University of Alabama with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in, respectively, 1959 and 1961. He graduated Stanford University with a Ph.D. in physics in 1965 with a concentration in particles and fields. He served a post-doctoral appointment at the University of Michigan and a stint as assistant professor at the University of California-Irvine prior to returning to his alma mater in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. There he served on the University of Alabama Department of Physics and Astronomy faculty for the remainder of a long career. He served as department chair for more than 15 years prior to retiring in 2004, after which he continued to teach part-time. He was active in teaching and research for many years and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honorary. He is respected among peers for being honest and precise in his work and caring of everyone engaged in the pursuit of knowledge. Philip loved sports, especially Crimson Tide football, politics, physical fitness and gardening. He loved good food, families and the fun times they have together. He was a devoted husband and father to his two daughters and son. Over his life, he loved water skiing, running, hiking, family walks, playing board games and recreational sports, family dogs, and keeping up with the newspaper’s daily Jumble and Sudoku for many years. He loved movies with happy endings. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Peggy, and his parents, Leonard and Winslow Coulter. He is survived by his wife, Lucinda, his brothers Alton Coulter (Jackie), Byron Coulter (Basia) and Neal (Ann – deceased), his daughters Pippa Elayne Abston of Huntsville, Ala., Kathryn Alicia Simms (Don Simms) of Chesapeake, Va., his son John Eric Coulter (Danielle Nicole) of Orlando, Fla., and his grandchildren Daniel Seth Abston, Erin Elizabeth Abston (Vince Gordon), and Paisley June Coulter. He leaves behind beloved cousins, nieces and nephews. Plans to celebrate his life in a memorial service for family and friends will be announced later. Philip lived with Parkinson’s and Cortico Basal Degeneration, a rare brain disease, for many years. He did not complain. Every day he tried to enjoy life’s beauty, fun and its complexity. In honor of Philip, the family suggests donations to the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, gsmit.org, 9275 Tremont Road, Townsend, TN 37882, (865) 448-6709; or to the Children’s Hands-On Museum of Tuscaloosa, chomonline.org, 2213 University Blvd, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, (205) 349-4235.