J. Philip Robertson

J. Philip Robertson, 91, passed away peacefully on July 14, 2026.  He was preceded in death by father V.O. Robertson of Pleasureville, KY, mother Thelma (Shephard) Robertson of Bardstown, KY, and brother R. Shephard Robertson of Columbus, Ohio. 

Phil was a graduate of Columbus North High School where he played basketball and had 3.97/4.0 grades.  He received his Mechanical Engineering degree from The Ohio State University and an MBA from the Wharton School of Finance. 

Phil was a “big brother” to 10 or so boys, several of whom refer to him as their “Dad” including Richard Tillman (Angie Tillman) and Mike Swinford (Leslie and son Luke Swinford); others who looked to him for guidance such as Dave Conley and Tim Tillman. He also helped raise Andrew Philip Tillman and Samuel Philip Tillman. 

He served as Captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He was an advisor to the OSU chapter of the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity for 25 years, named the Honorary Chairman at its 100-year celebration, Domain Director for PKT and served as the President of the Alumni of all 42 fraternities at Ohio State. 

His 48-year working career included Owens Corning Fiberglass, NCR Corporation (assistant to the General Manager of the 15,000 person manufacturing plant), Industrial Fiberglass. 

He served as Youth Chairman and General Chairman of the Dayton YMCA Central Branch, President of the Board of Good Shepherd Ministries (addiction recovery), member of Big Brothers and JC’s, coached Boys Club 8th grade basketball, player/coach of industrial basketball teams, trustee and officer of the Oregon Historic District where he restored two houses with hard labor over 17 years with help of inner-city youth. He ushered as a Boy Scout in Ohio Stadium and ever since had season tickets to cheer on the Buckeyes. He also had tickets for UD basketball ever since the arena was built in 1969. He was very active in Gideons International jail ministry, Bible distribution, and spoke in 85 different churches totaling hundreds of church services to place Bibles around the world. He served as Mission Chairman, Outreach Chairman and Trustee at the East Dayton Christian Church.

One day Phil was asked if he could fill in and teach an adult Sunday School Class of eight people for two weeks. He said yes, he could do that for a couple of weeks. Thirty-five years later, he was still teaching that adult class, which at one point had grown to over 25 people. 

Public visitation will be held at East Dayton Christian Church (3415 Linden Ave. Dayton, Ohio 45410) on Saturday August 1st from 1:00 pm until time of funeral service at 3:00 pm.  

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation in Phil's memory to Good Shepherd Ministries, East Dayton Christian Church and The Gideons International.