Phillip Curtis Linwick, 88, died on August 22, 2019. Phil was a much-loved husband, father, and grandfather. His parents, Robert and Ranveig Linwick, were Norwegian immigrants who met and married in Montana, where they homesteaded. They eventually moved to Minneapolis to raise their family: Robert, Ann, Kenneth, and Phillip. Phil, the youngest, was born February 7, 1931, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
From an early age, Phil was fascinated with learning how things work. Thus, in order to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering, he enrolled in the NROTC Program at the University of Minnesota. While a student, Phil married Claudette Casey and began his family. Phil and Dette’s four sons were Phillip Gregory, Daniel Casey, Thomas Scott, and Jay Martin.
Subsequent to completing his engineering degree, Phil received his naval commission and became a fighter pilot. He served on the USS Hancock—an Essex class aircraft carrier—and was an accomplished aviator. Phil’s love of flying was life long. Although he eventually left the service, while in the reserves, Phil taught instrument flying at Moffett Field in California. Regrettably, in his later years, complications associated with multiple sclerosis grounded Phil.
Phil’s first civilian job was with Lockheed, where he developed flight instruments such as accelerometers. In 1963, Phil’s division was acquired by United Control, so he moved his family to Bellevue, Washington, the company’s headquarters. In 1969, Phil took the daring step of founding his own company, Integrated Circuits, Incorporated (ICI). This new company designed and manufactured hybrid electronics, which included printed circuit boards critical to the aviation and space industry. Phil was not only the founder of ICI, but also its chairman. Thus, under his direction, the company prospered and eventually changed its name to Interpoint. Phil was well respected and loved at every level of his company from the production line to management; for, as he made his “daily rounds,” Phil learned the names of hundreds of employees and spoke with them frequently about their projects and concerns. His prescient profit-sharing initiative included all employees, and may well have contributed to the company’s success. In addition, while working at ICI, Phil was dedicated to Redmond Rotary and drove a support van for Rotary’s annual bike-ride fundraisers.
In the late 1970’s, Phil and Dette divorced. In 1983, he married Sally, who had worked at ICI since its inception—but who left the company shortly after their marriage. Together, Phil and Sally raised Sally’s children, Christopher and Jennifer, who were considerably younger than Phil’s four grown children.
Following their mutual retirement in the early 1990’s, Phil and Sally traveled extensively; visiting Norway, the Virgin Islands, China, Tibet, Italy, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Panama, Costa Rica, Tahiti, Finland, Estonia, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark. During one of their trips to Mexico, they purchased a condominium on the Sea of Cortez in San Carlos, Mexico. They made many close friends and became very involved in this small retirement community. Indeed, Phil served as president for the condominium association for several years. Moreover, some of Sally’s fondest memories include the drive from San Carlos to Copper Canyon and several colonial cities in central Mexico.
When Sally became a grandmother, Phil and Sally sold their condominium in Mexico to be closer to the grandchildren. Soon thereafter, they purchased a cabin on Stuart Island, one of the northern most of the San Juan Islands. Phil enjoyed a strong connection with the residents of Stuart Island, in part, because many were pilots who used the island’s grass airstrip to travel between their homes and their cabins. One of Phil’s friends, George Renquist, took Phil on his last flight in a vintage biplane. George, a marine pilot, had deep respect for Phil’s carrier-pilot experience. And despite George’s reluctance to “do a loop” per Phil’s request, Phil enjoyed his last flight immensely.
As Phil’s multiple sclerosis progressed, his visits to Stuart Island decreased in frequency. In the summer of 2019, he journeyed to the island a final time to bid his old friends farewell. On the occasion of this visit, he awoke one morning and remarked, “It is so beautiful here!”
Phil invested himself wholeheartedly in everything he deemed worth pursuing. In his youth, for example, he formed a swing band in which he played the trumpet. Phil’s band won an amateur competition at Carnegie Hall, an achievement that he proudly recalled. Another example of Phil’s commitment to excellence was his skill as a carpenter, which he acquired from his father. (When Phil was young, his father, Robert, worked as a draftsman and used hand tools to build the family’s house in Minneapolis.) There was virtually no challenge or engineering project that Phil refused to undertake. As a mechanical engineer, his designs were unique, sound, functional, and aesthetically satisfying. And of course, he was also a consummate handyman who regularly used his expertise to repair things around the house.
Phil possessed a deep sense of family, which was instilled by his mother Ranveig and rooted in his Norwegian heritage. He was also a gentleman who had a knack for making family and visitors alike feel comfortable and welcome in his home. Phil lived in Issaquah with Sally and his stepson Christopher until the day of his death. He is survived by his wife Sally; sons Phillip Gregory, Daniel Casey, Thomas Scott, and Jay Martin; stepchildren Christopher and Jennifer; and grandchildren Sarah, Jacqueline, Jeremy, Jeffrey, Maxwell, Oliver, and Marjorie. Remembrances may be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.