Philip Michael Huyck

1940 - 2025

Philip Michael Huyck
06/01/2025

Philip Michael Huyck, cherished husband, father and grandfather, whose intellect was matched by his quick wit and generous heart, died on June 1, 2025.

"A professor at heart, natural storyteller, voracious reader, thoughtful listener, eternal optimist, Greek coin-collector, and master of puns, whose enthusiasm for history, music, poetry and literature was only surpassed by his profound love for his family. The 'google before google', Phil found his greatest joy sharing his passion for life with his admiring wife, devoted children, and adoring grandchildren."

Phil was born on May 21, 1940, to Martin and Marie Huyck in Battle Creek, Michigan, and moved two years later to Burbank, California. As a child, he played tennis, immersed himself in books, and spent his free time working alongside his parents at their Huyck Enterprises shop. Phil put himself through Stanford University, where he was elected head yell leader and enjoyed comedy roles in theater productions.

Upon graduation, Phil moved to Bonn, Germany, to write for TIME magazine. Here, he covered the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and put his love of other cultures and languages to good use. In 1963, Phil returned to the United States and attended Stanford Law School, where he was on the Stanford Law Review and (most importantly) where he met Mary Hilton. Six months later, Mary and Phil married in an intimate wedding, with a reception at her parents' garden on the Stanford campus. Phil later described this as "the best part of my three years at Stanford Law School."

After law school (class of 1966), Mary and Phil moved to Paris when Phil received a Fulbright fellowship. They spent a year enjoying France and then moved to Brooklyn Heights, NY, where Phil spent his first few years as a corporate attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in NYC. During this time, the Council on Foreign Relations awarded Phil a grant to study for a year in Brazil, where he again engaged fully in a new culture. Once back in the States, Phil left Cravath to follow new opportunities, developing hydro and co-generation power plants throughout North and South America.

In the late 1970s, Phil and Mary left Brooklyn Heights for Bronxville, NY, and then on to Greenwich, CT, where they raised their three children, Jonathan, Peter and Laura. The dream of developing clean energy projects became Phil's life's mission, both on his own and with investment firms Credit Suisse First Boston and Trust Company of the West. Phil summarized his career best in the Stanford 50th reunion magazine, writing, "Professional: journalist, lawyer, investment banker, fund manager, energy project developer (focused on alternative energy), and currently chairman of a company developing an innovative fuel cell technology. As Mary says, I have to keep doing it until I get it right."

And he did. Of all of his projects and passions, nothing meant more to Phil than his family. He shared 62 years with Mary, the love of his life, and they devoted themselves to their children, and then their five grandchildren, Lillian, Charlotte, Abigail, Ben and Nate. Well into his 80s, Phil was an integral part of their daily lives. From adventures at the Bronx Zoo to water parks, where "Boppa" was first on the ride alongside his admiring grandkids. He told them bedtime stories, read book after book, taught them history and guitar and supported every interest they had. As one of his grandkids put it, "He was my best friend, who taught me how to see people and life with a spark of appreciation and kindness."

Over the years, Phil enjoyed playing tennis, summers at Twilight Park in the Catskills (where his ashes will be buried alongside those of his parents), memberships and friendships at the Council on Foreign Relations, the University Club, the Belle Haven Club and, most of all, his Costco membership.

His humor, smile, laugh, bushy eyebrows, deep intellect and compassion were inimitable. Phil left everyone smiling and with a tidbit of trivia they could take with them - from ancient history and philosophy to the origin of their name. We are better (and wiser) for knowing him.

"Phil - from the ancient Greek root meaning loving or fond-of; loyalty, strength, approachability, warmth, curiosity and love."