Marion Toulmin Gaines III was known to his parents and siblings as "Toulmin," and known to his wives and children as "Phil." He was born in Daytona, Florida on March 26, 1923.
At the age of 87, the longtime resident of Kensington, Maryland died May 23 at Charlotte Hall Veterans Home. He was the oldest child of the late Marion Howie Gaines (mother) and Marion Toulmin Gaines II. He grew up in Mobile, AL and Pensacola, FL where his father was a newspaper editor, first for The Mobile Press-Register and then for The Pensacola News-Journal. He graduated from Pensacola High in 1941 and enrolled at the University of Florida in Gainesville before enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942. He flew more than 30 missions in the Pacific as copilot of a B-24, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross with his crew, and flew one of the last missions of WWII. After the war he served in the Air Force Reserves for several years and was discharged with the rank of captain.
He began his career in broadcasting as a high school junior at WCOA in Pensacola in 1939 and continued at WRUF, the University of Florida radio station, where he was given the professional name Phil Gaines (a phonetic reversal of the town name Gainesville ("Ville Gaines" became "Phil Gaines"). Upon graduation he continued his radio career at WHOO and then WDBO in Orlando where he also taught speech classes at Rollins College and managed the college station, WROL. In 1953 he began work at WMAL in Washington, DC as a staff announcer and television host of local programs including "Future Flyers Club" and "Bowl the Champ." During that time he taught speech classes at George Washington University and American University. He later worked at WWDC, hosting the classical music program "Music 'til Dawn," and at the Voice of America. In 1963 he began work as a staff announcer at WRC in Washington, and in 1979 he began a career as a free-lance announcer, narrator, and spokesman for various government agencies and companies. He occasionally acted in small supporting film roles including "Kennedy" in 1983 and "Yuri Nosenko, KGB" in 1986.
Gaines, a life-long tennis enthusiast, could be seen regularly at the courts of Bay View Park in Pensacola as a young man, and at Wheaton Regional Park, Sligo Creek Park, and Kemp Mill Park in Maryland well into his 60s.
He was predeceased by his sister Helen Augusta Gaines Hunter, his infant brother Edmund Brooks Gaines, his wife Sandra Lee Pitt Gaines, and his son Michael Thomas Furlong Gaines. He is survived by two brothers, a daughter, four sons and six grandchildren.
At the age of 87, the longtime resident of Kensington, Maryland died May 23 at Charlotte Hall Veterans Home. He was the oldest child of the late Marion Howie Gaines (mother) and Marion Toulmin Gaines II. He grew up in Mobile, AL and Pensacola, FL where his father was a newspaper editor, first for The Mobile Press-Register and then for The Pensacola News-Journal. He graduated from Pensacola High in 1941 and enrolled at the University of Florida in Gainesville before enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942. He flew more than 30 missions in the Pacific as copilot of a B-24, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross with his crew, and flew one of the last missions of WWII. After the war he served in the Air Force Reserves for several years and was discharged with the rank of captain.
He began his career in broadcasting as a high school junior at WCOA in Pensacola in 1939 and continued at WRUF, the University of Florida radio station, where he was given the professional name Phil Gaines (a phonetic reversal of the town name Gainesville ("Ville Gaines" became "Phil Gaines"). Upon graduation he continued his radio career at WHOO and then WDBO in Orlando where he also taught speech classes at Rollins College and managed the college station, WROL. In 1953 he began work at WMAL in Washington, DC as a staff announcer and television host of local programs including "Future Flyers Club" and "Bowl the Champ." During that time he taught speech classes at George Washington University and American University. He later worked at WWDC, hosting the classical music program "Music 'til Dawn," and at the Voice of America. In 1963 he began work as a staff announcer at WRC in Washington, and in 1979 he began a career as a free-lance announcer, narrator, and spokesman for various government agencies and companies. He occasionally acted in small supporting film roles including "Kennedy" in 1983 and "Yuri Nosenko, KGB" in 1986.
Gaines, a life-long tennis enthusiast, could be seen regularly at the courts of Bay View Park in Pensacola as a young man, and at Wheaton Regional Park, Sligo Creek Park, and Kemp Mill Park in Maryland well into his 60s.
He was predeceased by his sister Helen Augusta Gaines Hunter, his infant brother Edmund Brooks Gaines, his wife Sandra Lee Pitt Gaines, and his son Michael Thomas Furlong Gaines. He is survived by two brothers, a daughter, four sons and six grandchildren.
Marion Toulmin Gaines III was known to his parents and siblings as "Toulmin," and known to his wives and children as "Phil." He was born in Daytona, Florida on March 26, 1923.
At the age of 87, the longtime resident of Kensington, Maryland died May 23 at Charlotte Hall Veterans Home. He was the oldest child of the late Marion Howie Gaines (mother) and Marion Toulmin Gaines II. He grew up in Mobile, AL and Pensacola, FL where his father was a newspaper editor, first for The Mobile Press-Register and then for The Pensacola News-Journal. He graduated from Pensacola High in 1941 and enrolled at the University of Florida in Gainesville before enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942. He flew more than 30 missions in the Pacific as copilot of a B-24, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross with his crew, and flew one of the last missions of WWII. After the war he served in the Air Force Reserves for several years and was discharged with the rank of captain.
He began his career in broadcasting as a high school junior at WCOA in Pensacola in 1939 and continued at WRUF, the University of Florida radio station, where he was given the professional name Phil Gaines (a phonetic reversal of the town name Gainesville ("Ville Gaines" became "Phil Gaines"). Upon graduation he continued his radio career at WHOO and then WDBO in Orlando where he also taught speech classes at Rollins College and managed the college station, WROL. In 1953 he began work at WMAL in Washington, DC as a staff announcer and television host of local programs including "Future Flyers Club" and "Bowl the Champ." During that time he taught speech classes at George Washington University and American University. He later worked at WWDC, hosting the classical music program "Music 'til Dawn," and at the Voice of America. In 1963 he began work as a staff announcer at WRC in Washington, and in 1979 he began a career as a free-lance announcer, narrator, and spokesman for various government agencies and companies. He occasionally acted in small supporting film roles including "Kennedy" in 1983 and "Yuri Nosenko, KGB" in 1986.
Gaines, a life-long tennis enthusiast, could be seen regularly at the courts of Bay View Park in Pensacola as a young man, and at Wheaton Regional Park, Sligo Creek Park, and Kemp Mill Park in Maryland well into his 60s.
He was predeceased by his sister Helen Augusta Gaines Hunter, his infant brother Edmund Brooks Gaines, his wife Sandra Lee Pitt Gaines, and his son Michael Thomas Furlong Gaines. He is survived by two brothers, a daughter, four sons and six grandchildren.
At the age of 87, the longtime resident of Kensington, Maryland died May 23 at Charlotte Hall Veterans Home. He was the oldest child of the late Marion Howie Gaines (mother) and Marion Toulmin Gaines II. He grew up in Mobile, AL and Pensacola, FL where his father was a newspaper editor, first for The Mobile Press-Register and then for The Pensacola News-Journal. He graduated from Pensacola High in 1941 and enrolled at the University of Florida in Gainesville before enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942. He flew more than 30 missions in the Pacific as copilot of a B-24, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross with his crew, and flew one of the last missions of WWII. After the war he served in the Air Force Reserves for several years and was discharged with the rank of captain.
He began his career in broadcasting as a high school junior at WCOA in Pensacola in 1939 and continued at WRUF, the University of Florida radio station, where he was given the professional name Phil Gaines (a phonetic reversal of the town name Gainesville ("Ville Gaines" became "Phil Gaines"). Upon graduation he continued his radio career at WHOO and then WDBO in Orlando where he also taught speech classes at Rollins College and managed the college station, WROL. In 1953 he began work at WMAL in Washington, DC as a staff announcer and television host of local programs including "Future Flyers Club" and "Bowl the Champ." During that time he taught speech classes at George Washington University and American University. He later worked at WWDC, hosting the classical music program "Music 'til Dawn," and at the Voice of America. In 1963 he began work as a staff announcer at WRC in Washington, and in 1979 he began a career as a free-lance announcer, narrator, and spokesman for various government agencies and companies. He occasionally acted in small supporting film roles including "Kennedy" in 1983 and "Yuri Nosenko, KGB" in 1986.
Gaines, a life-long tennis enthusiast, could be seen regularly at the courts of Bay View Park in Pensacola as a young man, and at Wheaton Regional Park, Sligo Creek Park, and Kemp Mill Park in Maryland well into his 60s.
He was predeceased by his sister Helen Augusta Gaines Hunter, his infant brother Edmund Brooks Gaines, his wife Sandra Lee Pitt Gaines, and his son Michael Thomas Furlong Gaines. He is survived by two brothers, a daughter, four sons and six grandchildren.
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1ST LT US ARMY; WORLD WAR II
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