care of his nonagenarian parents ….

care of his nonagenarian parents and helping to bring water to a parched African community.

The litany goes on but the overarching quality of his life was his deep love and care for the people around him.

“He just loved people,” RoseMarie said, “all ages and all stages. He was interested in them.”

He freely gave away smiles, hugs and encouragement.

His expansive, funny, lighthearted demeanor made him first choice to emcee at GRF holiday events and for entertainment clubs.

His signature Santa persona was a fixture at annual GRF holiday events. He was featured in his red suit and beard on Page One of many December LW Weekly newspapers.

He was as civic-minded as he was social.

When he moved to LW in 2012, he immediately connected with community government, becoming president of his Mutual, taking a leadership role in the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), and ultimately being voted onto the GRF Board of Directors. His major concern was the safety of all residents.

He had many passions in life, the utmost being his wife, RoseMarie, who was his best friend and steadfast companion for more than a half century. The couple had two sons, James Phillip Mandeville and Michael McClure Mandeville, who gave them three grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

After his family and friends, Mandeville’s greatest love was flying. At the age of 54, he passed the test for a pilot’s license and was ready to soar. He told his wife that his Piper Cherokee would wiggle her tail when he entered the hangar at Fullerton Airport.

The day he had to sell her was the saddest day of his life. A diagnosis of glaucoma grounded him, but Mandeville’s optimistic nature quickly reasserted itself. His love of life was undaunted.

On his 60th birthday, he fulfilled a lifelong dream to vacation in Alaska, where he and his sons hooked 600 pounds of fish.

Mandeville was also a man of faith. Around the same time as the Alaska fishing trip, God moved him to work to bring water to Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city. He started a not-for-profit 501(c)3 after he and RoseMarie befriended a woman from Nairobi who was attending college in the U.S.

After telling them how she had to walk 45 minutes a day to bring water to her family, the couple worked for nine years raising money to augment water supplies in Nairobi.

The Mandevilles moved to Leisure World in 2012 after Phil retired from 40 years with American West Trucking Company, where he was a part owner.

He moved to LW to help care for his father-in-law, a 36-year resident of Mutual 6 who died last year at the age of 95.

He also helped care for his parents, James and Margaret Mandeville, in the Lake Tahoe area where Mandeville grew up. He was born on Aug. 17, 1941, in Reno, Nevada, and spent his youth in Tahoe.

It was a place that drew him for the rest of his life.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, he and RoseMarie would vacation in his 96-yearold family cabin. And because Mandeville never met a stranger, lots of people were invited to visit, and many LW friends enjoyed the Mandevilles’ hospitality.

“He was one of a kind, a beautiful person,” wrote John Rogers, one of more than 100 people who posted condolences on Facebook.

“My sympathy to the Mandeville family,” wrote Mutual 1 Vice President Saundra Luther Stark. “Phil was a good friend, who always took time to say hello. He was president of Presidents’ Council for a year and seemed to enjoy that position as he did everything he was involved with. He will be missed,” she said. Video Producer Bonnie Zelda Cooper agreed: “Words cannot express what a wonderful man he was.”

Theater Club member Taylor White added: “Phil was wonderful in so many ways. He was a gentleman while also being quick-witted and kind. Best Santa ever! “Always a smile and a kind word,” said Tosca Lies of the Theater Club. Hui O Hula dancer Lori Chamberlain knew Phil as a “wonderful neighbor and friend.” “He was a leader here in Mutual 11, as well as throughout LW, the best Santa Claus, too! I miss him already,” she said.

Perhaps Judy Noble summed it up best: “My deepest condolences to Rosie and his family. His amazing positive energy will truly be missed in Leisure World.” Service arrangements are pending.

—Ruth Osborn, managing editor