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Phillip Moloso III ’59

The Urban Dictionary defines the world moloso as a unique person who is strange and interesting. Phillip was definitely one of a kind: brilliant, humble, and endlessly curious about life and fond of witty jokes.

He graduated from Seattle’s Queen Anne High School in 1955, tied for the top of his class. Continuing his education at Reed, he worked with his advisers, Professors Herbert J. Landar [anthropology 1957–59] and David French ’39 [anthropology 1947–88] in writing his thesis, A Componential Analysis of Navaho Kinship Data. Phil went on to get a master’s in library science from the University of Denver and did graduate study at Yale.

Self-identified as an anthropologist, linguistics scholar, musician, and polymath, Phil was on the faculty at Glendale Community College from 1966 to 2002. He was a librarian, a professor of business and mathematics, and a department chair, teaching courses in English literature, composition, math, music, graphic arts, and computer science. He loved sharing his discoveries with others, and touched the lives of thousands of students. Upon retirement, he continued to study music, learning the bassoon, oboe, and guitar and continuing with the harpsichord and piano. He composed Kindertoten II, which was performed by the Glendale Community College Guitar Ensemble.

Phil was preceded in death by his long-term partner Gus, and is survived by nephews Mike Moloseau and Zachary Klaas and niece Mary Moloseau Goetz.

Appeared in Reed magazine: March 2017

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