Sylvia Philips was born into the noble Van Lennep family. In 1929 she married Frederik (Frits) Philips, from 1961 till 1971 President of the Philips Electrical Company. She and her husband first got in touch with the Oxford Group at a house party in 1934. That encounter gave a new direction to their lives. It helped them and their children through the difficult and challenging years of World War II. Both Sylvia and her husband were imprisoned during that war. They were staunch supporters of MRA. They attended many MRA conferences all over the world, including in Panchgani and in Caux. To both centres, they contributed the translation systems. They got seven children. Their eldest daughter, Digna, married Peter Hintzen, one of the leading figures of MRA in the Netherlands. Another daughter, Annejet, married Paul Campbell, for many years a close friend of Frank Buchman and his personal physician. One of their sons, Anton Philips, worked full time with MRA for many years before joining the Philips Company.
