Update 1/2/25: SLI President & CEO Statement on the Passing of Fr. Ken Phillips, TOR, MS
The staff of Saint Luke Institute (SLI) shares the sad news that our dear friend and colleague of 40 years, Father Ambrose Kenneth (‘Ken’) Phillips, TOR, MS, passed away peacefully this morning, January 2, 2026. We offer our prayers for his final communion with God, and for the members of his family and his religious community, the Franciscan Friars, Third Order Regular, Province of the Immaculate Conception in the United States of America.
Additional details will be shared as they become available.
In over four decades of care for our clients, Fr. Ken served in a number of roles at SLI, most recently as Coordinator of Continuing Care. He was honored at the 2025 Annual Benefit for SLI with a Special Service Award.
Fr. Ken joined the TOR community in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1971. He ministered in parishes and hospital ministry, prison chaplaincy, education, and as Director of Spiritual Care at St. Elizabeth’s Psychiatric Hospital in Washington, D.C., before joining the SLI team.
May he rest in the peace of Christ which he so generously shared with countless others, and may all those who knew him find comfort in that peace and love which now enfolds him.
‘Well done, good and faithful servant … enter into the joy of your Lord.’ (Matt. 25)
[Image: Fr. Ken Phillips, TOR, MS speaks at the 2025 Annual Benefit.]