Former Les Schwab exec dies

G. Phillip Wick, a lifelong Les Schwab Tire Centers employee who is credited with much of the company’s success and growth in recent decades when he served as its president, died Tuesday. He was 66.

The cause of death was not released.

Those who knew Wick called him a quintessential Les Schwab employee, due to his tenure. A Puyallup, Wash., native, Wick started as a 21-year-old salesman in 1965 and became the youngest Les Schwab manager ever three years later at the Walla Walla, Wash., location. He continued to gradually rise through the ranks until becoming president in 1983, essentially chosen as successor to founder Les Schwab, who died in May 2007.

“He took it in a transitional phase from more of a mom-and-pop shop to a national chain,” said former Crook County Judge Scott Cooper. “The only thing Phil ever wanted was what was best for the company.”

As a private company, it is the second-largest in Oregon, with revenues exceeding $1 billion a year, according to Oregon Business Magazine. Les Schwab has more than 7,000 employees and 400 store locations.

Wick helped establish many of the company’s employee programs alongside Schwab, the company said in a news release. After taking over as president, he maintained a focus on customer experience, according to the company.

Cooper said Wick was a businessman at heart. Having started his career at Les Schwab and having never left, Wick knew the business better than almost anyone, Cooper said, adding that Wick’s talent was in sales.

“Phil would have moved to Mars if it would have improved the bottom line,” Cooper said, adding that Wick also was loyal. “He started there and intended to die there.”

Before the Les Schwab headquarters moved from Prineville to Bend in 2008, Wick was heavily involved in the Prineville community, said Mary Thurman, who served on the board of the Prineville Hospital Foundation with Wick. Thurman said Wick, like Schwab, was dedicated to the community and building the company.

“He was part of this community,” Thurman said. “He represented the Les Schwab corporation with the same ideals as Les.”

Wick retired from his role as president in December 2005, when he became chairman of the board of directors for three years. He stepped down in 2008 but stayed active on the board, the company said.

Wick owned a home in Redmond. He is survived by his wife, Lesley, and children, Jeff and Heather, and their families, according to the company.

Information about a memorial service is not yet available, the company said Wednesday.

“His enthusiasm and personal warmth was infectious and he will be deeply missed,” the company said.