Longtime Dartmouth SID dies

Whether offering a bowl of chowder in her press box, winning a state amateur golf title or penning a story for the Union Leader in her first job out of college, Kathy (Slattery) Phillips made a lasting impression -- be it her fast wit or professionalism.

Dartmouth College's longtime sports information director, who died yesterday after complications from a brain aneurysm, will be remembered for her many talents and zest for life. She was 55.

"She had a large impact on a lot of people, from the Dartmouth area to people at the Union Leader to the golfing world," long-time friend Louise Billy said.

Billy and Andrea Morrill of Manchester, also winners of the New Hampshire Women's Golf Association Amateur Championship, immediately drove to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon after learning of their friend's sudden decline.

"She had a headache Sunday and thought maybe she was coming down with the flu," Billy said.

Phillips, who changed her name after marrying Corey Phillips in 2005, served as Dartmouth's SID 24 years. Driving her car Sunday, she struck a parked vehicle and lost consciousness, according to Billy. Doctors discovered a ruptured aneurysm and performed surgery.

"I played golf with Kathy for 30 years," Billy said. "We met in 1972 at Beaver Meadow (Golf Course in Concord) and hit it off. She was the best friend anyone could ever have. Any time you won a tournament, she was always right there. She'd send Christmas cards, birthday cards. ..."

Born in Concord, Phillips began a career in athletics after graduation from Syracuse University. She was the first female member of the Union Leader sports department, hired by the late Bob Hilliard, and later worked as an Upper Valley correspondent. She moved from the state's largest newspaper to Dartmouth College, overseeing communications and media coverage for Dartmouth's 34 varsity athletic teams. For more than 20 years, she served on the Union Leader Board of Judges, voting on the Athlete of the Month and Athletes of the Year.

"I'm very sorry to hear about Kathy Slattery," New Hampshire Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid said. "That's a great loss not only to the sports community but to New Hampshire. She was familiar to a lot of us here at the Union Leader and her memory will always bring a smile."

Kathy (Slattery) Phillips, right, is shown with her husband, Corey Phillips, and her stepchilldren, LIzzie and Carter, earlier this year.

Added copy desk chief C.J. McCarthy, "As a sports writer and later as chief sports editor, I had ample opportunity to witness Kathy's competence and professionalism that led her to being regarded as one of the top SIDs in the nation," McCarthy said. "She was simply a pro's pro. She will be sorely missed."

Vin Sylvia, the newspaper's sports and New Hampshire Sunday News Editor, said Phillips' death is "difficult to grasp" and reflected on the professionalism of her department at Dartmouth.

"I can't think of Dartmouth athletics without thinking of Kathy. I started here in '87, and she was the SID then," Sylvia said. "I covered Dartmouth's great run of Ivy football titles in the early '90s and one of my fondest memories of that time is of joking with Kathy in the press box at Memorial Field."

That professionalism extended far beyond the press box. When a reporter's car was disabled on a cold night in January, Phillips accompanied the stranded scribe for an hour while waiting for a tow truck.

"She was someone you could always rely on in this state," said Scott Stapin, director of media relations at the University of New Hampshire. "When I took the job at UNH back in 1996, one of the first phone calls I got was from Kathy Slattery welcoming me to New Hampshire ... Most importantly, she was always a good friend. Whether you were an SID or media person, she was always one of the friendliest people you'd talk with."

On the golf course, Slattery was truly in her element. She won the rainy 1988 state amateur at Hanover Country Club, her home course, and competed each year throughout New England. She dominated club championship play at Hanover Country Club and ranked among the top female amateur golfers in New Hampshire history.

Those in her foursome marveled at the skill and steady demeanor of Phillips.

"She was so witty, so pleasant all the time. I think I saw her get mad once," Morrill said. "She was always coming up with these little phrases, like 'par is your friend.' If the ball went around the hole and dropped in, she'd say, 'It was a victory lap.' We used to call them Kathy-isms."

Married two years, Phillips had been a mother figure to 9-year-old Carter and 4-year-old Lizzie.

"It was a new chapter in her life, and she couldn't be happier," Billy said. "This is such a big loss. She was too young."