Jake Phelps, Former Director of University Union, Dies at Age 85
Jon Julian “Jake” Phelps of Hillsborough, NC, who advised Duke President Terry Sanford and who, as director of the university union, helped strengthen student and cultural life on campus, died Nov. 7 because of complications from prostate cancer at Duke Hospital.
Jake was born in Winston-Salem on May 23, 1935. He attended Reynolds High School where he and his brother Steve were active in student government. Jake was selected to attend a statewide “student council” in 1953 in Fayetteville. The family he stayed with during his time at the council was Terry and Margaret Rose Sanford. It turned out to be the beginning of a relationship that would last for many decades.
After graduation, Jake enrolled in his first stint at UNC-Chapel Hill. But after two years he took a break and had his first job as a journalist at the Greensboro Record. After a stint in the military, he and his first wife Peggy returned to North Carolina living in Durham. Jake began his second job as a journalist at the Herald-Sun papers in Durham while continuing his undergraduate and then graduate studies at UNC-Chapel Hill.
At the Herald-Sun Jake covered both the early art scene in Durham which introduced him to Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans who introduced him to those active in the arts in Durham and at Duke. He was also active in and covered the civil rights movement, which was a lifelong passion for him.
In the mid 1960s, Jake joined the Office of Institutional Advancement at Duke University. While there he wrote “I Have Selected Duke University…” which was a short history of the university. Soon after Terry Sanford became the president of Duke, Jake joined Sanford’s staff becoming Sanford’s primary researcher, speechwriter, confidante, and all around “right-hand man.” This was a role he would serve in for Terry Sanford not only as president of Duke but also Sanford’s national presidential and senatorial campaigns.
In 1973, Jake became the director of the Student Union at Duke where he supervised the fundraising and construction of the Bryan Center. Till Jake’s retirement from Duke, he inspired many creative endeavors such as Freewater Films, Cable 13, Broadway at Duke and the American Dance Festival.
In the mid 1980s, Jake married his second wife – Lisa Blumenthal. Jake is survived by his three sons: Kent & wife Catherine and their children – Julian and Samuel; his son York and his children – Chaska, August, and Anastasia; his son Joshua; and his brother Stephen Phelps and his wife Carolyn.
A virtual memorial will be held via Zoom at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12. A live memorial will be held at some time in the future to be decided depending on any limitations imposed by the current pandemic.
Those who wish to honor Jake Phelps’ memory with a gift to the scholarship fund in his name can do so via the following ways:
Online Donation: Please click this unique memorial link to give directly to the Jake Phelps Scholarship Fund. https://www.gifts.duke.edu/mem/Phelps
Mailing a Check: If anyone wishes to send a check by mail, they should send it via USPS only to the following address:
Alumni & Development Records
Duke University Box 90581
Durham, NC 27708-0581
Please include on the check memo line the name of the fund (Jake Phelps Scholarship Fund) and the fund code (6186414).