Longtime Ketchum resident Philip L. Poynter died peacefully at his home in San Juanico, Mexico, on July 13, 2009.
Phil was born in Los Angeles on July 13, 1940. At age 10, he traveled to Italy on a steamship from New York City with his grandmother, and stayed for six months. Philip started his masonry career at the ripe age of 11, building a barbecue for his family. Always eager to earn money, he was a door-to-door Fuller Brush salesman as a teenager. Also in his teen years, his dancing skills were rewarded as an Al Jarvis dance champion. Phil graduated from Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif.
He moved to Ketchum in 1964, working as a bell hop in the Sun Valley Lodge. He was the manager of the bar at the Ore House, and later worked at his given trade as a stonemason. He married Andrea Felker in 1969 and soon after started Phil Poynter Custom Masonry, Inc. He was a true "master mason" at his craft, as numerous structures including Atkinsons' Market, Hemingway Elementary School and many restoration projects in the north and south valley can attest to.
The ever-devoted husband and father, he absolutely loved it when people were having a good time. He would drive all through the night to deliver his kids to Lake Havasu or Mexico so they got the most out of their spring-break vacation or any one of their snowboarding or skateboarding competitions. Phil was one of those parents who would drive a motorhome of high school seniors to Boise for a rock concert, then drive them home safely for school the next morning.
Phil and his wife Andie retired to San Juanico, Mexico, in 2002 to fish, walk the beach and have a place for their children and grandchildren to come and surf at the famous Scorpion Bay. Phil, of course, could not stop the working itch, so the fish only saw him at rare times. Now there are many smaller projects at his new-found home that he leaves for his loved ones to remember him by.
He loved to hand out lollipops to all the Mexican children on the beaches. He adored and knew well all the kids in his town of San Juanico. He was like Santa Clause to them. The community of San Juanico adored "Felipe" so much.
Phil is survived by his wife Andrea; one daughter, Lissa Poynter, and her husband, Branson Veal of Seattle, Wash.; one goddaughter, Kirsten Ritzau of Hailey, Idaho; one son, Gary Poynter of Palm Springs, Calif.; and two sons, Joshua Poynter and Jeremy Poynter of Bellevue, Idaho, who follow in the footsteps of their father as stonemasons. Phil also left the "lights of his life"—four grandchildren, Camille Poynter and Koah Poynter of Boise, Paisley Veal of Seattle and Finnigan Eztrodt Poynter of Omaha, Neb. Also surviving Phil are his brother, Alan Poynter of Hagerman, Idaho, one sister, Judee Bradbury of Aloha, Ore., and numerous nieces and nephews.
A Catholic mass was celebrated at the Parish in San Juanico, BCS, Mexico. There will be a memorial "paddle out" for family and friends later in the week. A get-together of friends in the Wood River Valley will take place later this year.
