Phillip C. Yeager

YEAGER--Phillip C., 80, the founder and Chairman of one of the nation's largest freight transportation companies, died on September 29, 2008 from complications from a heart attack. Mr. Yeager, an intermodal industry pioneer, founded Hub Group with his late wife Joyce in 1971. Working together as a team, the two built a company that started in a windowless one room office above a flower shop and is today a publicly traded Fortune 1000 corporation with over $1.8 billion in annual sales. Mr. Yeager was born in Bellevue, Kentucky in 1927 and grew up in a working class family during the Great Depression. He worked in his family's butcher shop at a young age, earning a nickel or a doughnut for each delivery. Mr. Yeager learned the value of hard work and thrift during these formative years, character traits that would define his life. After excelling at sports in high school, Mr. Yeager attended the University of Cincinnati on an athletic scholarship, playing both football and tennis at the collegiate level. He was drafted in the Army in 1946 and served at Camp Carson in Colorado for 18 months. After a brief stint managing an ice house, Mr. Yeager began working for the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1952. He worked for the railroad for 19 years, witnessing the introduction of intermodal transportation in 1954. At that time, intermodal service, which combines the use of truck and rail transportation, was in its infancy. Realizing the potential of this new and more fuel efficient form of transportation, Mr. Yeager started Hub Group with his wife Joyce by his side and $500 in cash. With his strong relationships at the railroads and his reputation for honesty, customers began shipping with Hub Group in impressive numbers. The Company began a geographic expansion and had locations in over 25 important rail cities by 1985. Hub Group went public in 1996 and is currently traded on NASDAQ under the symbol HUBG. Mr. Yeager remained an active Chairman, company spokesman and industry advocate up to the time of his death. During his career Mr. Yeager received numerous awards recognizing his contributions to the transportation industry, including the Intermodal Transportation Association's Man of the Year, the Salzburg Practitioners Award from Syracuse University, the Presidential Medal from Dowling College, induction into the Chicago Area Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, the Silver Kingpin award from the Intermodal Association of North America, the New York Traffic Club's Transportation Person of the Year, Target's Vice President's Life Time Achievement Award and the Connie Award from the Containerization and Intermodal Institute. Mr. Yeager also received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from the University of Denver in recognition of his achievements in the intermodal industry. Despite his tremendous accomplishments, he was a down to earth person who never lost the common touch. Mr. Yeager is survived by his wife Anne, daughter Debra (Bob) Jensen and his two sons David (Julia) and Mark (Heather), grandchildren Patrick Jensen, Elizabeth (Jim) Cassaro, Matthew, Phillip, Laura, Alexander, Samantha Yeager and two great grandchildren, Mia and Tyler Cassaro. Visitation for Mr. Yeager will take place Wednesday, October 1, from 5:008:00pm at Gibbons Elliston Funeral Home located at First and Grant Street, Hinsdale, IL 60521. Family and friends will meet Thursday, October 2 at St. John of the Cross, 5005 S. Wolf Road, Western Springs, IL 60558 for a 10:00am memorial service. In lieu of flowers, memorials made to Childrens Memorial Hospital, 2300 Childrens Plaza, Box 4 Chicago, IL 60614-3363 directed to "The Yeager Professorship in Pediatric Neurosurgery" would be appreciated.