Phillip John Kaster

May 18, 1944 — November 16, 2024

It is with heavy hearts that the family of Phillip John Kaster of Richardson, Texas, announces his passing on Saturday, November 16, 2024.

Born May 18, 1944, in City Hospital in Akron, Ohio to John and Vera Kaster, Phil grew up in a close-knit family. He graduated from St. Mary Catholic School and Copley Senior High before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in March 1964, serving during the Vietnam War. Stationed at Upper Heyford, England he worked as a Weather Observer at the base housing the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command. Understanding war fighter tactics and its relationship to weather conditions, he read and interpreted weather reports, prediction models, and radar imagery. Preparing forecasts and weather warnings he then briefed the pilots of the tactical reconnaissance aircraft.

It was during this time that Phil met Judy James, a local girl who lived with her parents in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. Phil and Judy married in 1966 at St. Johns Church near Kenilworth Castle. They lived in Chipping Norton in the Cotswold, Oxfordshire region until moving to the U.S. upon his discharge in 1967. The couple settled in Akron where they welcomed their children, Wendy and Geoffrey.

Phil earned an accounting degree from the University of Akron and became a Certified Public Accountant. After starting his career at Peat, Marwick, Mitchell, he joined Ohio Edison in the early 1970s, where he served as Manager of Internal Audits. In 1980, the family moved to Dallas Texas for a new corporate opportunity. Phil’s work as a Director at Central and South West transformed the role of audits into a collaborative process.

Tragedy struck in 1986 when Phil lost Judy to cancer after 19 years of marriage. As a single father he devoted himself to his children and relied on his faith. In January 1988, Phil attended a corporate event and was seated next to someone he knew only in passing, Patricia Cobler. He learned she was single, raising two daughters, Colleen and Kelly. After a few weeks Phil asked Pat out for lunch and following a brief courtship they became husband and wife in May 1988. Their marriage blended two families into one loving household.

Phil’s career later took him to Madison, Wisconsin before he and Pat returned to Texas where he continued to work until his retirement in 2009. Pat left her job in 2018 to join him in retirement.

Hobbies enjoyed were electronics, photography, and reading his variety of good books, mostly science fiction and novels. He appreciated and loved listening to all kinds of music, and over the years had acquired a large collection of vinyl records of all genres. One of the greatest joys for Phil was spending time with his grandchildren and attending their events. He and Pat loved traveling with their immediate family on cruise, beach, and mountain vacations, and just relaxing with them and their fur babies in Texas, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Florida. As a young man he had vacationed in Scotland, Wales, Mexico, Canada, and 35 of the U.S. states. A fond memory of Phil and Pat is their romantic vacation in Santa Fe in 2018.

A double-lung transplant recipient, Phil faced many health challenges with resilience, grace, and faith, inspiring all who knew him. He resolved to do his utmost to be the best he could be for his wife and family. And he did and he was.

Phil is survived by his wife of 36 years, Patricia; children Colleen Gardner (Kyle), Kelly Bellomy (David), Wendy Hanson (Jeff), and Geoffrey Kaster (Amy); grandchildren - Chase (Nahoko), Bryce, Ellise, Ian, Cameran, DJ (Landon); sister Veronica Doskocil (Gary); mother-in-law, Peggy Williams, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his first wife Judy, parents John and Vera, sister Patricia Morgan, and father-in-law Bob Williams.

A Celebration of Life will be held on December 19, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. at Custer Road United Methodist Church. If you wish to view the service live via webcast beginning at 9:45 a.m., please visit: https://crumc.org/media/watch-live/

Inurnment will follow at the church columbarium.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Phil’s honor may be made to

Transplant Living:

https://transplantliving.org/give/

American Lung Association:

https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases

Tunnel To Towers Foundation:

https://t2t.org/

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital:

https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html?sl=donate-now&sc_dcm=58700008481276680&sc_cid=kwp&&&&&gclid=d08a9c9fba771ae2539afba06fe9e284&gclsrc=3p.ds&ds_rl=1291300

Shriners Children’s Hospital:

https://donate.lovetotherescue.org/campaign/632310/donate?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=gt-2024&utm_content=nonbrand&c_src=bing&c_src2=gt-2024-nonbrand&msclkid=4009d034884c1bf1d595b70b5d9b1248