October 21, 1949 - March 28, 2024
The Honorable Phillip Relyea Urie, 74, of Stockton California, passed away peacefully Thursday morning, March 28, 2024.
Born in Cedar City, Utah on October 21, 1949, Phil was the oldest of eight children born to Eugene (Gene) Urie and Inez Relyea Urie. As part of a military family, he lived in cities in Utah, Mississippi, and California before moving to Germany. After a transfer to Virginia, the growing family moved to Norway and eventually settled back in California.
From an early age, Phil was a performer. From his mom, he learned to love theater and was in many productions, including shows at Mission San Jose High School, at the First Theater in Monterey and several musicals with Stockton Civic Theater. From his dad, he learned to love radio and broadcasting. As a senior in high school in Fremont, he got his FCC commercial broadcast license and started working for KFMR. Phil sang beautifully and will be remembered for his “tuxedo” voice.
After high school, he attended a year at Brigham Young University studying German, before he enlisted in the Army, attending basic training at Fort Ord. Phil was ordered to report to the Defence Language Institute (DLI) at the Presidio of Monterey, where he learned French in preparation for an assignment as a linguist in military intelligence at Kagnew Station in Asmara Ethiopia. At Kagnew, Phil first volunteered and was then permanently assigned to the American Forces Radio and Television Service outlet on the base. With two friends, Phil wrote the news and anchored two newscasts a night, seven days a week.
At the end of his tour, he reenlisted, and this time was sent back to Monterey to learn Russian. Through a church group, he met and fell in love with the enchanting Peggy Steele, a BYU graduate who was teaching school in Watsonville. They got engaged on April 1, 1972, and Phil sold the motorcycle he bought in Ethiopia to buy Peggy an engagement ring.They scheduled their wedding for December 15th in Logan Utah, near Peggy’s hometown of Preston, Idaho during Phil’s two-week leave between duty assignments.
After the unexpected passing of Peggy’s mother the day before their wedding, they were sealed in the Logan temple and spent the rest of Phil’s leave with Peggy’s father. Together, the newly married couple moved to Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo Texas for intelligence training. During this time he also got his private pilot’s license.
In 1973 Phil was transferred to Germany where he was promoted to Staff Sergeant and Peggy worked as a teacher on the base. When his second enlistment expired, Phil left the army to study finance and Russian at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. While a student there, Phil worked at two radio stations before eventually working on campus in the language lab. In 1978, just before graduation, they were blessed with a daughter, Christina.
In August, Phil started law school at McGeorge School of Law, in Sacramento, bringing his small family to California where they would live for the rest of his life. After completing law school and passing the California bar exam, Phil began working at Arthur Anderson in the Bay Area. Four years later, he accepted a position at the San Joaquin District Attorney’s office as a deputy district attorney. In 1986 they welcomed their second child, Jonathan.
At the DA’s office, and with his background in finance, Phil became a state-wide expert in the area of asset forfeiture. In 2008, after 23 years in the District Attorney’s office, Phil successfully ran for an open seat on the Superior Court as a judge, where he served for 11 years. He retired in 2019, having presided over courtrooms in Lodi, Manteca, and downtown Stockton.
As he prepared for retirement, he worked to develop a variety of hobbies to fill his much-anticipated free time. He took art classes, learning to draw and paint. He took storytelling classes, and learned to digitally edit audio and video. He learned to play the electric bass guitar, and obtained his amateur radio license. He continued studying languages old and new. At the time of his passing he had studied French, German, Russian, Norwegian, Hebrew, Ukrainian, and Spanish.
Phil was a life-long active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where he served his church communities in many ways throughout his years. He served as a teacher of children, youth, and adults. He sang in many church services. He served as a member of the lay ministry where he used his deep knowledge, keen insight, and faithful example to lead people to Christ. He and Peggy served in the Church’s addiction recovery program and were some of the first local leaders of the BYU Pathway program, which provides a unique opportunity for non-traditional college students to earn a degree while deepening their spiritual foundation. He will be remembered by many for his thoughtful and lprofound discourses in local congregations throughout the region.
Phil and Peggy celebrated 51 years of marriage this last December. This remarkable achievement can be attributed to their commitment to each other and to God. He loved Peggy immensely and demonstrated concern for her wellbeing daily.
Of all the experiences and opportunities he had, the ones he treasured most were the opportunities to be a husband, father, and grandfather. These titles shaped all he did. and his His descendants have benefitted tremendously and his posterity will will benefit forever from his love, faithful service to God, and sincere prayers on their behalf.
Phil is preceded in death by his parents, his brother Jim, sister-in-law Heidi, and three nephews. He is survived by his wife, Peggy; his siblings Ann (Mike) Nunes, Steve (Renae) Urie, Meg (Allen) Bullock, Glenn Urie, Ruth (Charles) Campbell, and Tad (Mara) Urie; his daughter Christina (Paul) Pehrson and their children, Nathan, Beth, Emmaline, Asher, and Heidi; his son Jonathan (Jill) and their children, Clara, Jonas, Logan, Isaac, and Evangeline; and many nieces and nephews.
A funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday April 6, 2024 at the LDS Church located at 8806 Don Avenue in Stockton. Visitation will begin at 9:00 AM, prior to the funeral service. Interment will be at Cherokee Memorial Cemetery in Lodi who are also providing funeral services.
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Cherokee Memorial is honored to serve the Urie family.