Phil Stohr was a son, Phil was a brother, Phil was an uncle, Phil was a nephew, Phil was grandson, Phil was a cousin, and Phil Stohr was a coach.
From the heart of his little brother Bob Stohr:
Phil was a friend, Phil was an uncle, Phil was a coach, Phil was a son, Phil was a grandson, Phil was a nephew, Phil was a cousin, and Phil was a brother.
Phil was dedicated, Phil was loyal, Phil was honest, Phil was loving, Phil was caring, Phil was an athlete, Phil was a fighter, Phil was a competitor, and Phil was a winner.
Growing up, Phil was always a competitor in everything he did, every game Phil played he never wanted to lose. When Phil played cards, he only wanted to be partners with someone, he knew he would win with. Phil felt the same way about playing on, or coaching, a soccer team, he loved soccer more than any other sport, and he wanted to win more than anybody else, every time he, or his team, touched the field. Phil could be a poor sport when he lost, but he would always use that memory of losing to fuel and motivate him to ensure that he would play better the next time. I always wanted to be his teammate, so I had to do my best and hope that Phil thought I was good enough. The one sport or activity that Phil would ask me to be his partner in before anyone else was cornhole. We would drive more than an hour just to play in a cornhole tournament. I always enjoyed the drive going there, but if we were to lose, then the drive back was never to be looked forward to. Luckily, we won more often than not so that drive didn’t happen very often. Phil was talented at every game he played, he felt that he had to win, and most of the times he did. Phil could very well be defined as a pure athlete, no matter what the sport being played was.
Phil was Fearless.
Phil always made decisions on gut instinct. He was hard headed, and it was impossible to change his mind, once he had made it up. For those of you that knew Phil, I am sure you would agree with me, that Phil was not scared of anything. As Phil’s brother, I feared for our lives more than once, and if you were his friend or family, I am sure you feared for yours at some point as well.
I can remember going snowboarding with Phil at Mad River Mountain. Going up the ski lifts, we would get so mad on how often they would stop and start. One time we were so close to the top, and the ski lift stopped again, and this time we were 20 to 25 feet from the ground. Phil said we should just jump and go down from here. I agreed thinking, “NO WAY was he being serious,” the next thing I knew Phil was gone. He jumped out of the lift leaving me in a tough spot. Always wanting to impress the bigger brother I jumped right after him. This was how Phil lived, this is the brother I loved, and I would have had it no other way.
Phil was a true friend.
Phil had a remarkable ability to become friends with anyone, and everyone. If there was someone he didn’t like, then sometimes he would handle the situation, “the way Phil handled situations,” but the next day they would be friends. He would always say how that person reminded him of himself.
Phil treated all of his friends like they were family, and he would give them the shirt off his own back. I was always so anxious in my quest to obtain as many friends as he had. That I forgot, I was competing against the most competitive person on earth, and even if I obtained 1 million friends, Phil would have 1 million and 1. I used to love the fact that he would hang out with different friends almost every night. You all helped make Phil the person that he was. Without the love of all of his friends and family, he wouldn’t have had so much love to give. There are so many stories that he has left with us. Please as his brother keep these stories for the rest of your life. Consider it Phil’s final gift, to each and every person, that he spent time with.
Phil was not a quitter.
Phil would never give up no matter what. Growing up, Phil always took longer to understand school. He was always so eager, to be better then me at everything, that he worked ten times harder at school than anybody else, including me. But there were still some subjects, that were difficult for him. However in 2000, he graduated from Beavercreek High School, and then attended Sinclair community college, in search of a degree in culinary arts, which he obtained this past Friday. I knew and believed in Phil 100 percent, that he would graduate from college. And his family and I always tried to let him know, how proud we were of him.
And even though he was not there for his graduation, which we all looked forward to seeing, the new Chef in action, he still had his graduation party, because everyone needed to celebrate his accomplishment, that he worked so hard for.
Phil, everyone is VERY proud of you, loves you, and will miss you greatly. We all know just like you watched over us in life, you will continue to do the same in Heaven.
Live your life to it's fullest! Enjoy every laugh, tear and even the belly ache. EVERYDAY tell the ones you love and care about how much they mean to you or even the silly smile they put on your face.
Hold NO grudges!
LIVE, LOVE & ROCK ON!
