In the local news there was news about about an Amazon exec who was killed in a plane crash.
Amazon.com exec killed in Michigan plane crash
ST. IGNACE, Mich. - A top executive with Amazon.com was one of two men killed in a plane crash late Saturday in northern Michigan, officials confirmed.
Coast Guard crews found the plane wreckage Sunday at about noon after detecting a signal from an emergency locator beacon.
On board the crashed plane was Amazon's web services director, Thomas Phillips, 52, with homes in Kirkland and Mackinac Island, and Joseph Pann Jr., 29, of St. Ignace.
Tom Phillips
Unfortunately, I knew the exec from his Microsoft days in Windows Hardware groups.
General Manager, Windows Hardware
Microsoft
Public Company; 10,001+ employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry
December 2001 – October 2003 (1 year 11 months) Redmond, WA
Responsible for a 450 person worldwide team that developed breakthrough hardware and software product innovations. Also responsible for creating programs and web services that were used to eliminate the top causes of Windows system errors and crashes. This work included hardware and software prototyping, including joint design work with industry partners to create new usage models for Microsoft products.
Tom's latest job at Amazon was.
Director / General Manager
Amazon.com
Public Company; 10,001+ employees; AMZN; Internet industry
January 2011 – Present (1 year) Seattle, WA
Responsible for the Windows Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) Services within Amazon Web Services (AWS).
It is always sad to see a work colleague depart early in their life. Tom was on his way to his second home.
Phillips had a house on the bluffs of Mackinac Island, just five minutes flight time away, an exclusive vacation destination where cars are banned.
Mackinac Island resident Sherri Plutchak said Phillips and his wife and daughters always got together with friends there in December.
"He will be missed," Plutchak said. "A great family."
Longtime colleague Kolb said Phillips "was a linchpin for many among his family, his friends and his church."