He helped shape the Tri-Cities as we know it. Now he’s turning 100
.JPG "From left, Bob Philip, Sam Volpentest, Clif Lahue, Sen. Warren G. Magnuson, Sen. Henry Jackson, Gov. Dan Evans, Glenn C. Lee (in rear) and Jim Ramey, Atomic Energy Commissioner, cut a cake for the Tri-City Nuclear Industrial Council in this 1970s photo. The economic development organization is now called the Tri-City Development Council, or TRIDEC.")
If there’s a secret to a long life, Bob Philip doesn’t know it.
He’s turning 100 on Wednesday, yes. But, “I’m not sure how it happened,” he said.
“People ask me, what did I eat or what did I do? I don’t have any answers,” he said. “The good Lord must have been looking after me. I’ve been very fortunate in my life.”
Many others are fortunate, too, that he’s been around so long.
Philip not only is co-founder of the Tri-City Herald, but also one of the architects of the community’s growth and development in the second half of the last century.
With business partner Glenn Lee and friend Sam Volpentest, he pushed for projects that would improve the Tri-Cities while also working to establish a unifying identity for the area.
“He’s given so much to the community,” said his son, who’s also named Bob.
The elder Bob Philip grew up in Tacoma and attended the University of Washington.
He served in the U.S. Navy from 1941-45 and went on to start an export business with Lee.
On a trip to the Tri-City area to look for a flour mill to use in their business, Lee learned that the weekly Pasco Herald newspaper was for sale.
“Glenn and I didn’t know anything about the newspaper business, but we recognized an opportunity. So we bought it,” Philip said in a phone interview.
They launched the daily Tri-City Herald in 1947, and it grew by leaps and bounds over the next several decades. In 1979, they sold the paper to The McClatchy Co., which still owns it today.
For his milestone birthday, Philip — who moved back to the West Side a while after the paper sold — will be with family.
He’s a grandfather and great-grandfather.
Although Philip no longer is in the newspaper business, he still sees papers as vital.
“I’m quite concerned that the younger generation doesn’t seem to find it to their best interest to buy newspapers. They’re willing to take their news from a little thing in their hands that they punch all day long,” he said. “They’re not getting the news in the complete sense. I think it’s too bad. Newspapers are still a very important part of the communication system in our country.”
He also shared of his enduring love for the Tri-Cities.
It was a wonderful place to live and raise a family — and he hopes it continues to thrive, he said.
He’s grateful to be in good health and in a good place as he celebrates 100 years.
“I’m very lucky to be able to live the life I’ve been living in retirement. I haven’t got a complaint in the world,” he told his former newspaper. “The Tri-Cities and the Tri-City Herald were very good to me, and I’m pleased I had a part in their original growth.”