Phillip Curtis Linwick

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Remembrances can be made to National Multiple Sclerosis Society at the following link: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/PhillipLinwickMemorial

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Phillip Curtis Linwick

February 07, 1931 - August 22, 2019

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OBITUARY

Phillip Curtis Linwick, 88, a much-loved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away August 22, 2019. He was born February 7, 1931, in Minneapolis, MN, to Norwegian immigrants Robert and Ranveig Linwick. Phil’s parents came to the U.S. separately; they met in Montana, where they homesteaded. Eventually, they married and moved to Minneapolis to raise their family: Robert, Ann, Ken, and Phil – the youngest of four... see more Phillip Curtis Linwick, 88, a much-loved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away August 22, 2019. He was born February 7, 1931, in Minneapolis, MN, to Norwegian immigrants Robert and Ranveig Linwick. Phil’s parents came to the U.S. separately; they met in Montana, where they homesteaded. Eventually, they married and moved to Minneapolis to raise their family: Robert, Ann, Ken, and Phil – the youngest of four siblings.  From an early age, Phil was fascinated with learning how things work, so it is not surprising that he graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He was a NROTC cadet at the university and when he received his naval commission after graduating, he became a naval fighter pilot, mastering the challenging skills of flying in formation and landing on the decks of aircraft carriers. While Phil was at the University he married Claudette Casey. They eventually settled in Sunnyvale, CA, with their three sons Greg, Dan and Tom. While living in Sunnyvale they had their fourth son Jay. Phil loved flying and was a meticulous and accomplished pilot. While in the reserves, he taught instrument flying at Moffett Field in California. Phil eventually left the service, but his love of flying was lifelong, and he often told stories of his days as a navy pilot. He continued to enjoy flying in civilian life until, in his older years, he was no longer able to pilot a plane due to complications associated with a diagnosis of MS.  Phil’s first civilian job was with Lockheed, where he developed flight instruments. His division was acquired by a company in Bellevue, WA, called United Control, so he moved his family to the Bellevue area in 1963. When Phil lost his job in 1969, he took the daring and venturesome step of founding his own company, Integrated Circuits, Inc., known as ICI, with a few fellow employees from United Control. The company used an innovative miniaturization method of packaging printed circuit boards; this process created highly reliable and light weight technology for the aviation and space industry. Phil was both founder and chairman of ICI, which became very successful; eventually the name was changed to Interpoint, as the original name did not accurately describe their products and processes. Their initial public offering was in 1983.  Phil was well respected at every level of the company and loved by many from production line to management. Every day he went on what he called his “rounds.” He would say hello to every employee and talk to them briefly about what they were working on and often about what was happening in their lives. As a result, he knew everyone’s name and what their job entailed, and he did this until the day he left the company, which had grown to employ hundreds. He instituted a profit sharing plan for ALL employees, which was not common at that time, and at employee meetings he would let them know what percentage of a month’s pay they would be accruing for the year. These were all ways that Phil demonstrably let his employees know that they were an important part of the company; ICI employees knew that he was their friend and that he understood their value. He was at the forefront of this inclusive type of management and it played a big part in his company’s success.   In the late 70’s Phil and his wife Claudette divorced, and several years later he married his second wife, Sally, who had worked at ICI since its beginnings. They bought a house together and Phil helped her raise her two children, Chris and Jennifer, who were much younger than his four boys who were grown by this time and living on their own. Sally left the company shortly after their marriage in 1983, and they both worked until their mutual retirement in the early 1990s. During a trip to Mexico, they decided to purchase a condominium in a small gringo retirement community in San Carlos, Mexico, on the Sea of Cortez. For ten years, they spent their winters in Mexico; they became very involved in the condo management and made many close friends. They enjoyed driving their Suburban around to the Copper Canyon and many of the colonial cities in Central Mexico. When Sally became a grandmother and wanted to spend more time in the U.S., they sold the condo and bought a cabin on Stuart Island in the San Juans, which the family often visited during the summers. Stuart Island is a very interesting community with a grass airstrip and large number of residents who are pilots. Unfortunately by this time Phil could no longer fly but he enjoyed a strong connection with the pilots on the island. Phil enjoyed the old-fashioned 4th of July celebrations held on the island every year. Phil and Sally made many good friends on Stuart Island. One of their friends, George Renquist took Phil on his last airplane ride in a World War II biplane at the 4th of July celebration. George took a few lucky people on a flight in his special plane every 4th and had been talking about how he wanted to take Phil. George, who was a marine pilot had respect for Phil’s carrier pilot experience. Phil wanted to do a loop but George declined. Never the less Phil really enjoyed that last flight. For a few years Phil became too debilitated by his disease to enjoy visiting Stuart Island. He talked about wanting to go back and the family found a way to make it so he could visit the island in the Summer of 2019. It was his last visit to the island and he really enjoyed it. One morning he woke up and looked outside and said “It’s so beautiful here!” Luckily he also got to visit with some of his old island friends at that last visit.  Phil never did anything casually; everything he became interested in, he did wholeheartedly. He talked fondly of his big band days when he was young; while still in high school he and some of his friends formed a swing band, in which he played the trumpet. They performed at many events on the weekends, but Phil was proudest of their having won the amateur swing band competition held at Carnegie Hall, a terrific achievement that Phil would always remember. Phil was also an excellent carpenter; he learned carpentry from his father, who worked as a draftsmen for Woolworth’s buildings when Phil was young, and even built their home in Minneapolis. As he developed his own skill, Phil loved designing and building projects around the house. He was up for any challenge, utilizing his expertise and training as a mechanical engineer, and consequently his designs were always unique and exceptionally sound and functional (sometimes to the point of over-engineering!). If anyone in his family asked him to build something, he would make sketches – often meticulously drafted drawings and sometimes he would even build scale models. His family loved this about him and often requested special projects, knowing he would come up with something amazing and well built. He could fix anything around the house, as he was a consummate handyman. Phil was an excellent host and had a deep sense of family which came from his mother Ranveig and her Norwegian heritage. Like his mother Ranveig, Phil had a way of making people feel comfortable and welcome and always had something to offer when visitors or family came by. When he was working at ICI he was very involved in Redmond Rotary. Every year, he drove a support van for Rotary’s annual bike ride fundraisers. He was also president of the condo association in San Carlos for several years, and during his tenure, he used his engineering and design talents to develop several value-adding projects.  After his retirement in 1996, Phil enjoyed traveling with his wife Sally to see the world. They had many fantastic vacations, visiting Norway (where they met Phil’s relatives at a family reunion), the Virgin Islands, China, Tibet, Italy, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Panama, Costa Rica, Tahiti, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark. Phil was always interested in exploring new places and learning about different cultures and always enjoyed talking to the people he met.  Phil lived in Issaquah with Sally and his step-son Chris until the day of his death. He is survived by wife Sally, sons Greg, Dan, Tom, Jay, stepchildren Chris and Jennifer, and grandchildren Jackie, Jeremy, Sarah, Maxwell, Oliver, and Marjorie.  Remembrances can be made to National Multiple Sclerosis Society at the following link: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/PhillipLinwickMemorial

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