Philip Durfee

May 8, 1906 - September 21, 1946

Colonel Philip T Durfee, 39-year-old San Marinan, was killed when a twin-engine B-25 Army bomber crashed while making an emergency landing at the Washington, DC airport last Friday, his mother, Mrs Jennie Durfee, 665 La Mirada Avenue, and sister, Miss Helen Durfee (SPHS '22), learned yesterday.

Colonel Durfee, a Caltech graduate, was stationed at Langley Field, Virginia. He received his Army 'wings' at Kelly Field in 1930. He reenlisted in 1939 and served as coordinator of Army, Navy and civilian activities in Alaska. He was assigned to Langley Field last February.

He also leaves his wife Kathryn (SPHS '24) and two sons, Philip, 9, and William, 7, now in the East.

Pasadena Independent, September 25, 1946

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Colonel Philip T. Durfee '28 was killed in the crash of a B-25 Army bomber on September 21, 1946.

After graduation in mechanical engineering, Colonel Durfee joined the Army Air Forces, receiving his wings at Kelley Field in 1930.  Returning to the Army in 1939, he spent the next four years in Alaska and the Aleutians, and was coordinator of Army, Navy, and civilian activities in Alaska.  Last February he was assigned to Langley Field, Virginia.

Holder of the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Legion of Merit Award, Colonel Durfee is survived by his wife and two sons.

Three others were killed in the crash of the bomber piloted by Colonel Durfee, while two men, both Army personnel, survived.

Fall 1946 Engineering and Science Monthly, Caltech Alumni News