Joseph J. Phillips Jr., former Enquirer education reporter and amateur radio columnist, died June 20 of a pulmonary embolism at his home here. He was 68.

Mr. Phillips retired from a 28-year career as an English teacher for the Princeton Schools in 1999.

He reported on education for The Enquirer in 1970-1971. During the 1980s, he wrote a twice-monthly column for the paper called "Ham call."