Philip Sunshine

FUNERAL SERVICE
10:00 am, Tuesday, January 21st
Ahavath Achim Synagogue 
600 Peachtree Battle Avenue, NW, Atlanta, GA 30327
 

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OBITUARY
Philip Sunshine, 94, an Atlanta native and respected member of the city’s business community for over sixty years, died on January 19 at his home of glioblastoma. Philip was born December 17, 1930, the youngest child of Harry Sunshine and Lillie Shemper, both immigrants from Russia who settled in Atlanta in 1921. A graduate of Bass High School, he went on to receive a degree in Accounting from University of Georgia in 1952. After serving in Denver, CO as First Lieutenant in Air Force Intelligence, Philip returned to Atlanta in 1955. That same year he married Janet Kaminsky of Savannah and by 1960 three children filled their loving home. He joined Sunshine Department Store, the retail business his parents had founded in 1925. With the company motto: ‘Sunshine for Everybody’, his father Harry had established the family’s spirit of generosity, providing customers with a free first-pair of shoes for their babies, lollipops for children receiving care at Grady Hospital, and raincoats for the crossing guards at Atlanta’s public schools. Over the decades, five stores opened in the metro Atlanta area. Philip absorbed his parents’ formidable work ethic, setting an example for his own children, often saying: “there are no shortcuts to success”. He developed one of the first covered shopping malls in the city and eventually focused exclusively on commercial real estate. Fair-minded, and exceedingly optimistic by nature, Philip rented retail space to the city’s new immigrants, aware of the fact that his own parents had arrived in America nearly penniless. A ‘hands-on’ landlord, he made the rounds to check on his tenants— driving Atlanta’s highways to be sure his properties were well-maintained until his retirement at 92. Ever-active in civic affairs, Philip was President of the Retail Merchants’ Association in the 1970s, a life-long member of the Ahavath Achim Synagogue where for many years he was the notoriously witty M.C. for the monthly birthday breakfast, a member of the Masonic Lodge for over fifty years, a generous contributor to the Scottish Rite Hospital, Jewish Family Services, Weinstein Hospice, and many other organizations. He was an avid golfer for 70 years and looked forward to his weekly gin game. Philip was predeceased by Janet Sunshine, his devoted wife of 57 years. In 2014, he found love again and married Mona Tekin Diamond, former Turkish Honorary Consul General for GA, who introduced him to Turkish culture and her community of friends in Atlanta and Turkey. They shared an active life of travel and companionship for over a decade, including the creation of the Sunshine Symposium, an international conference of cancer research, in partnership with Emory Winship Cancer Institute and Koç University Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. She survives him, along with her three sons and their families. Philip was also predeceased by his eldest daughter, Paula Sunshine. He is survived by his children: Ilene (Robert Hamburger), Steven (Ann) Sunshine, and son-in-law Bob Kagan; his seven grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. Also predeceased by older siblings Irving Sunshine, Shirley Levin, and Florence Bernes, Philip’s survivors include his brother-inlaw Allen (Charlotte) Kaminsky, sister-in-law Dale (Zvi) Barzilay, and sisters-in-law Ann Kaplan and Betty Jacobson. True to his name, Philip Sunshine had a bright spirit. He will be deeply missed, but his integrity, sense of humor, and love of life will forever inspire those who were fortunate to know him. Funeral services will be held 10:00 am on Tuesday, January 21 at Ahavath Achim Synagogue, 600 Peachtree Battle Avenue, NW, Atlanta, GA 30327 with Rabbi Rosenthal officiating. Private Burial will follow at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs.  In lieu of flowers, please make donations to: City of Hope, Attn: Annual Giving, 1500 E. Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010, (https://www.cityofhope.org/giving/give-honor-or-memory); Jewish HomeLife, 3150 Howell Mill Road, N.W., Atlanta, GA 30327; Sunshine Symposium, checks payable to Emory University, mailing address: Emory University Office of Gift Accounting, Attn: Jennifer L. Morton, Suite 1400, 1762 Clifton Road, N.E., Atlanta, GA 30322, or a charity of your choice. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.