Philip Vincent McGance’s career as a public servant began while he was a senior at St. Patrick’s High School in his hometown of Weston, WV, where he won first place in the annual Governor’s Essay Competition with an essay entitled “A Decade of Progress in Employing the Handicapped.” It signaled the beginning of a life of public service dedicated to improving the lives of others.
Phil’s West Point years were marked by great enthusiasm and hard work. He was totally dedicated to Company A-2, and his competence and diligence earned him the position of company executive officer during his First Class year. His determination made him one of the company’s strongest cross country runners. He participated in the Debate Club and impressed all with his constant well-informed and well-reasoned pontificating on politics and public affairs. His roommate recently recounted life in the barracks with Phil: “He was talkative, energetic and constantly planning a ‘better mankind.’ He supplied most of the conversation and a good deal of the activity in our room.” Phil knew what he wanted, a role and a voice in public policy.
Phil’s first military assignment was commanding a battery of Nike Hercules air defense missiles as part of the 1st Missile Battalion, 71st Artillery Regiment, based in Suitland, MD and having a mission of defending the Washington area against Soviet air attacks. After a year of battery duty, he was tapped by the commanding general (CG) of the parent unit, the 35th Artillery Brigade (Air Defense), to be his aide-de-camp. From 1962 to 1964 Phil loyally and effectively served as the CG’s executive assistant. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for his efforts.
Phil left the Army in 1964 and joined the staff of United States Senator Jennings Randolph, a West Virginia Democrat. Phil became a senior and trusted aide to Randolph, until Senator Jay Rockefeller succeeded Randolph in 1984. Much of the work Phil did was a function of the committees on which Randolph served: Environment and Public Works and Labor and Human Resources. In later eulogizing Phil, Senator Rockefeller noted that “West Virginia had a desperate need for improved infrastructure, and for 20 years there wasn’t a road or a sewer system that Phil McGance didn’t work on, fight for, care passionately about. He knew every project: the history, the politics, what it meant to the community. Virtually every community in West Virginia benefited from Phil McGance’s energy, his dedication, and his ability.” Phil also worked on the full range of human services much needed by West Virginia at that time, including improving schools, eliminating hunger, and supporting coal miners’ health and mine safety.
When Senator Randolph retired in 1984, Phil agreed to stay on to help Senator Rockefeller set up his office in 1985. It was during this stint that Phil achieved what his colleagues called his greatest victory. For years Phil had been working to save the Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Company. It was now bankrupt and shuttered due to a strike. Rockefeller stepped in to try to save the company, asking Phil to set up a 24/7 “war room” and manage the crisis. Phil was no longer just the “right-hand man,” he was the man. He personally brought together and mediated between labor, management, government and the banks to save the company. Rockefeller described it this way: “He practiced pension and bankruptcy law without a license; he helped mediate, without a title, simply because he was trusted by everyone. Everyone knew that Phil had no other agenda but to help the company survive and save jobs for the Ohio valley.”
When Phil died in 1987 at the age of 49, the tributes surfaced quickly on the floor of the U.S. Congress.
The senior senator from West Virginia, Robert Byrd, said: “From 1964 onward, Phil McGance assisted Senator Randolph with an efficiency and loyalty that were legendary on Capitol Hill and around Washington…I had many opportunities to work with Phil McGance over the years, especially on matters touching on West Virginia. I particularly appreciated his finishing well whatever he began. Whoever worked with Phil McGance found him always cordial, thoughtful and reasonable.”
Congressman Nick Rahall said: “Phil was a credit not only to his native state but to the entire country. Phil personified the words ‘public servant.’”
Senator Jay Rockefeller said: “He was the total public servant; his commitment to his work and to the people he represented was extraordinary…Above all, he was an extraordinary friend. The intensity he brought to his work coexisted with a great generosity and warmth and a terrific sense of humor. He was always optimistic, upbeat, hopeful; he never succumbed to cynicism or defeatism. He buoyed the spirits of everyone around him…We will always be disappointed that he left us much too early but will always be grateful for the times we had together.”
Phil was honored by the establishment of a fellowship in his name, the Philip V. McGance Public Service Fellowship. To this day this fellowship gives annual financial awards to political science students at West Virginia University.
Phil’s time on this earth was cut short but it was certainly action-packed. He had thousands of colleagues and friends who knew and respected him. Phil’s 1960 West Point yearbook noted that “he always had time to flash his winning smile or deliver a campaign speech.” These traits were to become the hallmark of the rest of his career. His dedication and congeniality and desire for public service, which we all saw firsthand at West Point, carried him to great heights in his professional life. Well Done, Phil; Be Thou at Peace.
— Company A-2 classmates