Dear Marylee,
God bless me with Colin and his wife Lisa. who we met on the golf course.  Richard my golf partner and I team up with Colin and Lisa every Friday morning during the golf season.
Colin is my Phil, statue,  quiet, very smart, talented and loves his wife and loves life.
He reminds me so much of my friend PHIL, sometimes I call him PHIL by mistake, but also I call him Phil with Colin's blessing PHIL.
Marylee and Phil over the years introduced us to some of there family, dear friends and  our world is so much blessed. 
Marylee is caring the torch that Phil and she started on there Wedding day.
Love,
David and Peggy

Hi Marylee, I am thinking of you today.  Somehow the time has passed but Phil will always be remembered. I hope you are doing well. Sending love and hugs! Mary Villano

Marylee…Hope you are well..we just had a get together at Applebees this past Monday nite..Dan P., Jack E., John H., and Bob  S, and myself. Want you to know he is always in our thoughts…remembering some great times we all had together with “ Brother Phil”. 
       Missing Him and wishing you the best.
                  Big Ken

Mr Philisms :
(actually they were things he noticed someone else saying)

"six of one, two dozen of another"

"waste not what-not"

I will always cherish our winter camping and hiking trips to "Janetland."  One 20 degree night, I was wondering why Phil hadn't started a fire, when I saw Phil and Marylee staring up at the sky at a spectacular aurora borealis.  Seeing  the amazing display of the Northern Lights quickly warmed us up!  

Thinking of you, Marylee, and remembering Phil on this his first anniversary of entering eternal life. Remembering his warm, quiet way- and his sense of humor!  Recalling the many times we shared a meal together and Glenn and Phil shared a special brew.   So grateful for our friendship.   

We always will remember Phil and we always will keep the memories of the time we spent together. We are thinking of Marylee how much she is missing Phil. 
Love 
Manuela and Gebhard 

Phil leaves behind so many wonderful memories. . . .  we feel very fortunate to have been part of some of these.  We fondly remember our first dinner with Marylee and Phil at a sports bar called “Phil’s” to celebrate our first Octoberfest on Long Island (it seemed fitting).  Marylee and Phil kindly helped us adjust to our new home through fun get-togethers, many involving food, wine, and hiking.  We were always awed by Phil’s many varied passion and talents, especially his photographic skills, his love of music, and his dry sense of humor.  
Phil set a terrific example of how to live an honest, caring, and purposeful life.   He fought his illness with courage and dignity, and has now found peace.  Marylee, we hope that your many, many wonderful memories of your life together will warm and comfort you.

With much love, your Virginia friends,

Kathy & Jim Kaeli


Will miss you, Phil,  and the many walks we took together. Your friendship lives on in our hearts.  We are so grateful for everything you gave us.  Enjoy eternal happiness, 

 Anne & Glenn Hulsberg

Having been a fortunate co worker of Marylee for many years one can not miss seeing her gentle  easy going nature, generous spirit, thoughtfulness  and the most pure soul I have ever met.  
To my loss I have never gotten to know Phil but knew if he was married to Marylee he had to be pretty fabulous.  In reading all these remarkable, full of love and admiration eulogies I am a sadly aware what I had missed.   What a full life of adventure, glorious experiences leaving a trail of adoring fans , friends and family blessed for just knowing you.  What a lasting footprint to leave.

With love, Patty

Phillip Kuczewski
Phillip and I met when he joined the Vanderbilt Planetarium staff in 1978. We were young lads, and both of us engaged to marry our future wives. Phil was instantly liked by his new colleagues, who immediately recognized the passion and talent he brought to the planetarium every day. I recall being impressed with Phil’s extraordinary ability to illustrate the magnificent story of our universe through cinematic quality special effects. Phillip’s easy-going nature, quick sense of humor and genuine concern for his colleagues, as well as his ability to fix anything, made enduring friendships inevitable. These persisted over decades, even as career paths diverged.
Although we did not see each other often, we remained close. He essentially became a member of my family when he agreed to be Godfather to my daughter, Cynthia. It was a role he took seriously and enjoyed immensely.
My dear friend, Phillip, has been a vibrant presence with whom I’ve shared a love of astronomy, music, family, travel, and recently, model railroading. He leaves behind an emptiness that will henceforth be filled, however inadequately, with fond memories.
- L&J


Dear MaryLee

Please accept my condolences. Anyone who knew Phil will always remember his smile, his wit and his positive spirit. He will be missed.

What I do is remember the person as they were, their smile, their humor and them just being who they were, not that they're no longer here. This way, they're always with us.

In browsing the gallery here and seeing Phil in them brought back great memories, first from our planetarium days, then through the years, all the annual planetarian reunions, up to now.

These are fond memories and I remember him as that young man in the wedding pictures - in fact I remember when I first met him at the planetarium working with Stan - lol. This causes one to reflect on what's really important in life: family, friends and community.

Please stay well, MaryLee and have peace.

My very best,
Tom Madigan





Dear Marylee and family and friends,

     I am so very sorry to hear about Phil, and I’m thinking about you, your entire family, and all of your friends.  I’ve had the pleasure of knowing both of you for over thirty years in the Smithtown band and being in the Stony Brook one with Phil for the past several semesters.  I always appreciated Phil’s talent and enjoyed our countless conversations about music.   

     I will continue to keep you, your family, and all of Phil’s and your friends in my thoughts.  

                                                Valerie Marsico

The best of times with the "Bardolino Brothers"!!


Although we only met twice in person (once when Phil and Marylee came to visit us in Austria for a few days and once when we had the pleasure of visiting them for a week in New York), it felt to us like Phil has always been part of our family. When we were talking about him here in Austria, my wife and I always referred to him as “Uncle Phil”, as we felt that he was our uncle from our American family.

To me Phil was a fascinating person. He had many great hobbies and interests, some of which we shared, so it was always easy to find something to talk about. He also had a great sense of humor, and the time spend with him was always a good time.

We are forever grateful that we were able to get to know him and we will always cherish the time we spent together and the great memories we made. We know that he was loved and will be missed by many. Our thoughts and prayers are with Marylee and his family.

With Love,
Stefan, Nicki & Gabriele
and the rest of your Austrian family

Marylee,
I wanted to remind you of a visit you and Mr. Phil made to Dingman's Ferry, PA in 1989. Sorry for the poor quality photo.  Janet and Ed and Buster were there as well. Arthur and I went to a Polish butcher shop in preparation for your visit and purchased their homemade Kielbasa because, as with many things, Phil was a connoisseur of fine sausage. He was one-of-a-kind.
Resquiescat in Pace, Mr. Phil.

My wife, Anne, and her cousin Phil, both grew up just a couple of blocks from each other in Brooklyn. I, however, didn't meet Marylee and Phil until 2006 while they were vacationing out West. Anne and I currently reside in Washington state and we met them at a restaurant on their way to Rainier National Park.

In subsequent years, while on a couple of trips to the Northeast (which included a specific desire to see them again), they were gracious enough to let us stay with them for part of those times. We visited wineries, historical landmarks and other points of interest on Long Island, and of course participated in an activity that we all enjoyed --- walking. There were forays into Manhattan as well.

Sometime back, Marylee and Phil purchased property in Vermont, with the goal of eventually building a house and moving there; but as we all know --- plans change.

Two undeniable rules apply in life:

Rule #1 - Sometimes bad things happen to good people
Rule #2 - Good people can't change Rule #1

Rest in peace, Phil!

Jim and Anne Serles

Dear Marylee,

I am one of his BNL colleagues and as expressed already Phill was the best, most knowledgeable and the kindest technician I have worked with. Always ready to help and give a sound advise even when it was not direct responsibility of his job. As we used to ask: How would you do this?

I shall miss him, a man of great integrity, a true professional and most of all a great human being.

My sincere condolences on Phill's passing. Wlodek Guryn

Phil was a dear friend whom we will greatly miss.  Phil was an original member of the Smithtown Community Band and founding member of Transitions Saxophone  Quartet.  Bill particularly cherishes the memories of playing music together over the past 34 years.  We always joked that Phil was a true connoisseur of all of the finer things in life - music, food, wine and beer, of course, which he enjoyed sharing with his friends.  Some of our fondest memories include our weekends in Fire Island (and the delicious feast of fresh bluefish caught by Phil and Ed), our trip to Grafton, Vermont for a Transitions gig,   and attending the CW Post Guitar Festival each Spring.  Rest in Peace, Phil.  You are always in our hearts.  Rose and Bill  Link 

Marylee, 

I am so sorry that Phil has passed away. He was a great colleague and the best technician I've ever seen. He was also a friend that I will greatly miss.

All of us at BNL who worked with him are very sad that he won't be returning. We had hoped to see him again running his lab.

You have my sincerest condolences. I know it is and will be very hard to go through this. Let me know if you ever need anything.

Dave

MaryLee, my heart goes out to you for the loss of your husband.  Please know that many prayers are going up to heaven for him.

I have just learned of Phil's passing and wish to send my 
sincere condolences to Marylee and all of his family.
Thank you for all the years climbing the big ladder to hang
those beautiful Christmas banners in St. Louis church.
May he rest in Gods graces.

May my sweet, dear, caring Phillip rest in peace.  Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Henry









We were so sorry to hear of Phil's passing.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this most difficult of times.  We treasure your visit to our home in Arizona.   You have our deepest, sincerest sympathy.

I know that Phil was well loved and respected. He had great character and a big heart.  The pictures posted shows how loved he was.

With Love,

Gary and Sherri
Payson, AZ

Uncle Phil always seemed like the quiet uncle growing up but as I got older I realized that he was a great person to talk to about anything. His dry wit created long-lasting memories for my brothers and me. While sitting here putting this together I can remember him setting up his telescope during a family get-together and showing us kids Saturn - it was great. 
I know that you're at peace now and I'm glad that we were able to see each other just before the pandemic. I still have an email exchange that we had last May when you shared some family history, thank you for that and the memories. 

Love,
Michael

I met Phil at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1992, where he got to use his brilliant mind and all his talents to help the pursuit of science.
We had a common interest of astronomy and astrophotography.
I watched him play and entertain at the annual Christmas Concert and Custer Institute and Observatory.  The image shown is Phil and I working side by side on the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope thermal test stand, that without him, would never have gotten off the ground. A brilliant man, a great friend, musician, and truly one of a kind.  He will be missed dearly.

Phil,

although our decades-long friendship starting in 1978 has been separated by the big Atlantic Ocean, we always enjoyed our mutual visits in Manhattan, Long Island, Florida, the Blue Rich Mountains, Germany, France and Austria. We always had a lot of fun and a very good time together. No one can take these memoires away from us, but they are also no real consolation, since you had to leave this world painfully and much too early. This last farewell is the moment when everything stands still and we struggle for words of comfort and our thoughts and feelings and prayers are with your beloved wife and our best friend Marylee and all your family members. May the memory of all that beautiful together give strength and confidence to overcome the great sadness and emptyness. We will never forget and  keep you always in our hearts. You will be missed very much by Marylee, your family and friends. 

With Love your German friends for ever 
Manuela and Gebhard 

So many beautiful pictures of you and Marylee and so many beautiful memories .  You will be missed so much by family and friends.  Now you are surrounded by Gods love.  Always in our hearts!     With much love! Mary Villano

On October 3, 1981 I married Phillip Kuczewski and shared just shy of 40 years with a great partner! Phil (aka Hubs, Philka, Philsy, Phil-of-the-World) was a man of many talents, always occupied with either a hobby, project or activity to engage his ever-active mind.
He enjoyed music (playing saxophone with the Stony Brook Wind Ensemble, Smithtown Community Band and Transitions Sax Quartet), hiking, biking, camping, electronics, nature photography, astrophotography and model railroading (N-scale).
We celebrated every 5 yrs. of marriage with a trip to a National Park and also made 2 unforgettable trips to Europe to visit relatives of mine in Germany & Austria.
Even after his cancer diagnosis, Phil so impressed me with his positive attitude and inner strength in facing this devastating disease - right to the end - he helped me get through it too.
My heart is broken but also flooded with so many warm & cherished memories, I know I'll be OK.
God bless you Hubs!

Phil, you were a wonderful neighbor.  We will miss watching you walk withMarylee all the time . May you enjoy the heavenly banquet and Rest In Peace!


OBITUARY

Phillip Anthony Kuczewski

13 August, 1953 – 23 May, 2021

O.B. Davis Funeral Homes - Miller Place

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