Philip Childs Potter, Jr. passed away peacefully at age 95 on September 29, 2022 in Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, a block from his childhood home, and his elementary school. Son of the late Dr. Philip Childs Potter and Zaidee Tillinghast Potter, he was married to his beloved wife Letitia McClure Potter for 60 years.
Born in New York City in 1926, Philip attended St. Bernard’s School, Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard College and Harvard Law School. An avid soccer player, he served as varsity soccer captain at all the schools he attended. He was a member of the Varsity Club at Harvard and was invited to the Olympic trials. His outstanding skill and leadership were recognized by selection to All-New England and All-American Honorable Mention teams.
In 1943, during World War II, he spent his summer at age 16 working at Republic Aviation Company as a riveter, building P-47 fighter planes, with his classmate George Plimpton. In 1944, he joined the American Field Service as a volunteer ambulance driver with the British Army in Italy, later shipping out to India in preparation for the Burma Campaign, which thankfully was cut short by the end of the war. After law school he joined Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York City, rising to partnership. The firm was much smaller then, only 100 lawyers (now more than 1,000). He felt privileged to work with so many fine colleagues. As a litigation partner he became a member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court, among numerous other courts, and a Fellow of the
American College of Trial Lawyers. He also served as National Chairman of the Harvard Law School Fund and President of the Harvard Law School Association of New York City. Early in his law career, Mr. Potter and a colleague, serving pro bono, successfully won the release of an innocent prisoner who had been sentenced to life without parole and wrongfully served 18 years in Dannemora Prison. This remains one of his proudest accomplishments. He also ran a group for Recording for the Blind, which transcribed law books to audio format for blind students and lawyers. As an active member of the Bar Association of the City of New York, he served on the Executive Committee as Vice President. In his retirement, Mr. Potter served on the Board and as President of Family ReEntry, a nonprofit supporting transitions for prisoners, ex-convicts and their families, for which he received the Elizabeth Bush Award for Volunteerism in 2017. For 17 years he served as Chairman of the First Friday Group, which hosts a monthly lunch with guest speakers.
Family was most important to Philip, and he gave love and support to his parents, brothers and cousins and, without stint, to his wife and children. He celebrated their triumphs and was certain to help when times were challenging. “How to go!!” he would shout from the sidelines, whenever one of his children competed in sports, regardless of the outcome. His sense of humor was a constant of his character, drawing on his cache of extraordinary stories and punctuating conversations with a one-liner or wry comment, usually with a self-effacing bias. His warmth of character, compassion and kindness prevailed among all of his traits. Captivated by Bermuda, Philip met Letitia on Grape Bay, where the family spent many future trips together. With
his growing family, Philip moved to Greenwich, Connecticut in 1967. He loved sailing – particularly on Ventana, the yacht of a life-long friend – in the Pacific Northwest. In winter, he willfully endured family ski trips with cheer and, of course, humor. Philip and Letitia traveled extensively throughout the Western U.S. and Europe. He was a member of the Harvard Club, the Union Club and The West Side Tennis Club in New York City, and the Coral Beach & Tennis Club in Bermuda. Philip was a member and served as a President of The Field Club of Greenwich.
Philip is survived by his wife, Letitia, his brother Nicholas Blanchard Potter, and was predeceased by his elder brother Dr. Robert Tillinghast Potter. He was devoted to his family, Alexander Garrison Potter, Clarissa Hedges Potter (Kenneth Scott Schwartz), and James Philip Tillinghast Potter (Carrie Yen-Hui Lee), and to his three grandsons Jackson Sewall Tillinghast Potter, Miles Alexander Martin Potter, and Ethan Philip Potter Schwartz.
A service will be held at Christ Church, 254 E. Putnam Ave, Greenwich, CT on Saturday, October 29 at 2 pm. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Philip’s favorite humanitarian nonprofit, Live to Love International; Website: www.livetolove.org ; Mailing address: 745 5th Ave, Suite 500, New York, NY 10151
