Page 218 - 2020 Russell Catalogue

In Memoriam
Phil Drescher 1936–2019
C.M. Russell Museum Board Member
Phil was born in Sacramento in 1936 to Bernard Carl Drescher and Dorothy Hanrahan Drescher. The Dreschers were an old Sacramento family, dating back to pre-Gold Rush days. Phil was a fifth-generation Californian.
Phil attended Emerson Junior High School and University High School in Los Angeles, and was on the 1954 LA City Championship basketball team. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1958, where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and the Casque and Gauntlet Honor Society. He was in the Naval ROTC and was a high-jumper on the Dartmouth Track and Field Team.
In June 1958, Phil married his childhood sweetheart, Marcia Lou Laughlin. They
met when they were in ninth grade, and were inseparable ever since. Following their wedding, Phil began his two years of naval service on the minesweeper USS Pinnacle which was based in Charleston,
South Carolina.
After his military service, Phil attended Stanford Law School, graduating in 1963. He then moved to Ventura to accept a position as a deputy district attorney in the Ventura County District Attorney’s office, before turning to private practice both in Santa Paula and Ventura.
Phil served the community in so many ways. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Community Memorial Hospital for 41 years, serving as chairman of the Board for eight years.
Phil was the city attorney for the Cities of Santa Paula and Ojai. He was the general counsel for the United Water Conservation District for 30 years and also served as the attorney for the Ventura Port District. He was a past president of the Ventura County Bar Association.
Phil served as a board member of the Ventura Maritime Museum. He was a member of the East Ventura Rotary Club and later the Santa Paula Rotary Club, where he served as president. Phil was also a member of the Charles M. Russell Museum Board in Great Falls, Montana for many years, serving as chairman of the National Advisory Board. Phil loved Western art.
Phil found joy in art, music, history, reading, and playing golf. He loved telling and listening to stories and jokes. He relished the company of his friends. He loved dogs, especially his family’s dogs. But his greatest passion was his family. He loved nothing more than spending time with Marcia, their children, and their children’s families. He cheered for his children and grandchildren in all of their endeavors. He was a man of warmth, kindness, integrity, generosity, and good humor.