George Wilson, who co-owned Travel Leaders, a travel agency with offices in Kennewick, Richland and Yakima, died Monday after a heart attack.
Wilson, 75, was a decorated U.S. Air Force pilot and a former Hanford project manager. He often was considered the force behind the travel agency, which his wife Sondra started in 1983.
"He pushed me into it and put together a business plan," Sondra said.
His business acumen and positive attitude helped the agency thrive despite competition from internet travel sites and the cutting of travel agent commissions by the airlines, she said. "He lived and breathed the business," she said.
Wilson helped run the financial side of the business, said Julie Harrington, chief operating officer of Travel Leaders. He believed that great customer service and professionalism of agents were the keys to survival in the internet age, she said.
"I lost a great friend and a wonderful mentor," said Harrington, who has worked 18 years for the company.
George and Sondra Wilson recently were honored with the Travel Leaders Annual Award of Excellence for their outstanding leadership and customer service.
George Wilson was born in Oregon and grew up on a wheat farm in Kent, Ore. He graduated from Shawnigan Lake School, a private school on Vancouver Island, and later got undergraduate degrees in economics from Stanford University and in aeronautical engineering from the University of Missouri.
An avid golfer and voracious reader of books on history, Wilson also earned a master's in engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in Ohio.
The Wilsons moved to the Tri-Cities in 1980 from Portland, where they lived briefly after he retired from the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Service arrangements are pending.
-- Pratik Joshi: 509-582-1541; pjoshi@tricityherald.com
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