September 25, 1947 – August 4, 2024
Captain Philip Voss, 76, a retired naval officer, defense contractor and longtime resident of Jacksonville, died peacefully Aug. 4, 2024, surrounded by family and friends.
Born Sept. 25, 1947. Capt. Voss was the son of Danish immigrant Axel Voss and Delphine Voss of Natchez, Mississippi. As a youth, he was very active in scouting and attained the rank of Eagle at age 14.
Captain of his high school football team, he graduated from Cathedral High School in Natchez in 1965 and from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.
Upon graduation from college, he attended Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Fla., where he was commissioned an ensign and later was awarded his Navy wings. During a long and distinguished Navy career with many tours in Jacksonville, he served in seven carrier squadrons, logged 6,000 flight hours and made 750 carrier landings on 10 different aircraft carriers. He commanded two carrier squadrons: VS-30 on the Saratoga and VS-27 at Cecil Field.
During his naval career, he earned a Master of Arts degree in National Security Affairs from the U.S. Naval War College and served as a “CNO Fellow” on the Navy’s Strategic Policy Analysis Group. During his last three years in the Navy, Capt. Voss served as the commodore of Sea Control Wing, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, which was responsible for all Atlantic Fleet S-3 Sea Control squadrons. He retired as a Navy captain in 1995 after 31 years of naval service.
After retiring from the Navy, he established a defense consulting company in Jacksonville, Aviation Connections, which merged with Logistics Services International (LSI) in 1998. At LSI, he served as the vice president of marketing, corporate vice president, chief corporate development officer and chief marketing officer. He also served on the board of directors, where he was instrumental in converting LSI to employee ownership in 2006.
Capt. Voss was a devout Roman Catholic and longtime member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, where he served on the school board and as the chairman of the Building and Finance Committee. He was a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus and was very active in the Jacksonville community, serving as president of the Rotary Club of West Jacksonville. He served as one of the first chairmen of the West Jacksonville Citizens Planning Advisory Committee (CPAC). His service for the Boy Scouts of America included executive board vice president for endowments for the North Florida Council, which awarded him the Silver Buffalo award. He received the “Distinguished Eagle Scout” award from the National Eagle Scout Association.
Capt. Voss was preceded in death by his parents; two older brothers, Frederick Voss and Robert Voss; and his younger sister, Elizabeth Voss.
He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Nancy Glenz Voss; five children, Suzanne Voss Lucy Dane Bravo (Phil) of Jacksonville, Commander Matthew Voss, USN, Kathryn Voss Kukla (Steven) of Coronado, Calif., and Erik Voss (Kelley) of Los Angeles, Calif.; six grandsons and four granddaughters; his sister, Delphine Voss Prestridge; and two brothers, Carl Voss (Glenda) of Natchez, Miss., and William Voss (Jean) of McComb, Miss.; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
