A good man died in the early hours of Nov. 19 after a two- week struggle to live.

Philip Niles Hernandez fought every hour of every day but slipped into death just after midnight with his beloved wife, Aly, holding his hand.

Phil, of Kennewick, was 51.

He was  born December 21,1969 in Wichita, KS, as the only child of Diane Kay Steffler. He was later adopted by his stepdad, Eusevio Wedo Hernandez, both of whom preceded Phil in death.

Phil moved with his mother to Moses Lake in the early 70s and  later  moved to the Tri-Cities.  He graduated from Pasco High School in 1988 and for a short time lived in California before returning to Pasco.
Phil joined the Local 598 apprenticeship in 1994  and turned out in 1999.

He moved into his dream home in Kennewick after he and Alyson Moreno married in the spring of 2009.

Phil worked for ATI Richland Operations. Phil joined the operations at Richland in 2003 as a Maintenance Technician.  He has been with the company for more than 18 years,  spending the majority of his career in maintenance planning and facilities support.

He had hobbies galore and music was at the top of the list. He loved rock n’roll ‘80s, ’90s, and newer music, taught himself to play the electric guitar, played off-and-on in several bands,  and practiced – sometimes loudly  – in his upstairs bonus room. In recent years Phil discovered music theory and delved into understanding sound.
“Without theory, music is just guess work,”  explained his childhood friend Randy Larsen, of Kennewick.

Another hobby was gardening – but not just a few plants. Last Spring he brought home pallets of wood from work and cleaned and polished  them to become gardening boxes. Much of his backyard was one box after another.
He loved hot peppers and pickles and throughout summer and into early fall, Phil and Aly kept busy canning, freezing, drying and fermenting their wealth of vegetables and fruits.

Phil was a handyman, his son Caleb John (CJ) Moreno says proudly. “There was nothing he couldn’t fix and if he got stumped, he could figure it out.”

Another hobby was hooking up the RV and camping with longtime friends Robert and Regina Voss – often at the Little Naches “He loved it  there,” Aly said. His dogs – Oakley and Cooper- were never far from his side.

Friends like Family Randy Larsen, Kennewick, Robert Voss, Kennewick and Morris (Mo) Quaintance, Richland, used  words like loving, kind, sensitive, motivating, encouraging, and generous to describe Phil – who they say would have given you the shirt off his back.
He was also “very dedicated to whatever he set his mind to,” said Larsen.
He was very encouraging and motivational “He knew how introverted I was but also knew how to get me to try new things out of my comfort zone, consequently, getting me into playing the electric bass” said Voss.
They were among Phil’s closest friends.

Survivors include his wife, Aly, whom he adored; son CJ; in-laws John and Marcia Moreno of Pasco; brother-in-law, Ben (Maria) Moreno , living in Germany, and Ben’s son Justin Moreno of North Carolina.
Grandmother Ora Steffler of Moses Lake.  Aunts; Sandra Green (Bill Clark) of Kennewick; Paulette (Fil) Rivera of Moses Lake; Julia (Johnnie) Batten of Kennewick; Jackie (John) Sielaff of Hermiston. Two uncles; Gary (Verla) Steffler, of Moses Lake; Philip J. (Tara) Steffler  Jr. of Moses Lake

He also is survived by 14 cousins and their families.

He was proceeded in death by his mother, Diane Hernandez; father
Eusevio Wedo Hernandez, grandfather Philip J. “Jack” Steffler, uncle Paul Steffler, uncle Brian Steffler and uncle Alan Green.

Celebration of life for Phil will be held Sunday December 5, 2021 from 2pm-6pm at the home of Phil and Aly Hernandez, 8705 W Bruneau Ave in Kennewick,  WA.
This will be a casual, open house celebration just as Phil would have liked.