Philip Worth Longest, Sr. of Wallace and Topsail Beach left this world for wider oceans and loftier buildings on September 17, 2016.

Born in Rose Hill, North Carolina to Mary Faircloth Longest and Beaufort Brown Longest on August 9, 1947, Philip was their youngest son of four: Beaufort B Longest, Jr. (wife Carolyn) of Pittsburgh, PA; Daniel C. Longest (wife Hope) of Topsail Beach, and James Patrick Longest (deceased).

Married to his high school and college sweetheart Georgia Hall for forty-eight years, he was the father of two children: P. Worth Longest, Jr. (wife Michelle) and Mary Laine Rouse (husband Jason); and the grateful grandfather of four: Garrett Worth and Liza Grace Longest and Jason Lee (J.J.) and Lane Philip Rouse. He is also survived by his brother-in-law Freddy Hall (wife Rhonda), sister-in-law Emily Sue Lee (husband Cameron) and eight nephews, three great-nephews and two great-nieces. One nephew and niece preceded him in his heavenly journey.

As a general contractor, he established Longest Building Company, Inc. in 1984, and his buildings helped shape the landscape of southeastern North Carolina for thirty years. Many of those he built, he also designed.

Mr. Longest was a member of the Wallace Presbyterian Church where he had served as a deacon and as an elder. He chaired or served on the Building and Grounds Committee for many years. He also co-advised the middle school and high school youth programs with his wife for more than a decade.

He was a member of the Wallace Planning Board and a past member of the Wallace National Guard. A proud graduate of N.C. State University, he was a loyal "couch coach" of State's football and basketball programs.

Mr. Longest was an unassuming man who loved the land. He was as at home in the Atlantic Ocean at Topsail Island as he was in the Duplin County woods. He found great pleasure in his family, his friends, mowing his yard, and "taking a building out of the ground."

A memorial service will be held in his honor at the Wallace Presbyterian Church, 205 West Main Street, on Saturday, September 24, at 11:00 A.M. Following the service, the family will receive friends in the church fellowship hall. Memorials may be made to Building and Grounds Committee, Wallace Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 717, Wallace, NC 28466 or to Friends of Camp Kirkwood, 265 Racine Drive, Suite 203, Wilmington, NC 28403.