Dr. Gregory Lorne Phillips (Greg)

June 25, 1961 – January 24, 2025

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Dr. Greg Phillips of West Vancouver, British Columbia (born in Edmonton, Alberta), husband of William “Matt” Pettigrew, brother of Janice Phillips, and son of the late Sydney and Pearl (née Doshnewk) Phillips. 

After beginning to exhibit some uncharacteristic behaviour in the spring and summer of 2024, Greg was eventually hospitalized for investigations that would unfortunately reveal some physiological changes to his brain.

Further studies took place during his lengthy time in hospital, and regretfully, he was diagnosed with an aggressive, early onset form of frontotemporal dementia, which was causing his quality of life to deteriorate rapidly, and for which there is no cure.

Greg faced this crisis bravely and decided to depart this plane of existence on his own terms through MAiD (medical assistance in dying) before the disease could erode his quality of life any further. 

He passed away peacefully at home with his husband and sister at his side. His family would like to acknowledge how fortunate we are to live in a country that grants access to MAiD, especially in the current political climate, even though the current system could benefit from some improvements. 

Dr. Greg’s passing has left a hole in the hearts of all who had the pleasure of making his acquaintance, and especially those he called friends and family. 

A brilliant and well-respected physician with a career spanning over forty years, his expertise, professionalism, compassion, and incredibly sharp sense of humour will be missed by his patients and colleagues alike. 

His passion for food, wine, and travel were well-known, and the fact that his disease robbed him of his taste and smell was a particularly cruel fate. 

Rather than focusing on the final months of his life that were marked by awful circumstances, we should choose to celebrate his refined palate, sense of adventure, endless generosity, and his notoriously cheeky wit. 

He and his husband Matt visited over fifty (50) countries together, got married on the beach in Cape Town, South Africa, ate at some of the finest restaurants in the world, drank some of the finest wine and spirits, and had just shy of eighteen (18) beautiful years together.

Greg had so many more adventures he was due to pursue, and had so much more he wanted to give to the community as a doctor and citizen of the world, and although his journey in the physical world has ended, his legacy lives on in us all.

***

Kindly note, that given the traumatic period during his time in the hospital where there was no diagnosis, in combination with nearly losing him in 2020 because of his lengthy bout with Covid-19, Greg made it very clear he did not wish for his family to have to relive these moments via a memorial or ceremony. 

Greg’s husband, sister, and immediate family will be scattering his ashes privately at the location of his choosing.

If anyone wishes to make any donations in his memory, we would recommend the Pacific Assistance Dogs Society (PADS), as he was previously a board member there:

https://support.pads.ca/holiday-giving