Huntington Beach, Calif. — CE industry veteran Phil Callahan died suddenly in his home on June 26 of an apparent heart attack. He was 57.
Callahan was the principal of Callahan Public Relations and Consulting of Huntington Beach. During his career he held positions at Sumiko, Hitachi and Princeton Graphic Systems. The majority of Phil’s career was spent at Mitsubishi in various positions in the professional display group.
“Phil’s consistent professionalism, humor and positive outlook made him immediate friends with anyone who ever met him,” said long-time friend John Lowrey of DPI. “His love for the electronics industry and the people involved in the industry brought him a large group of friends and associates as well as an outstanding career.”
Said business partner and friend Susie Cover of Crown Public Relations: “It’s hard to think of discussing the business of this industry without having Phil be a part of that conversation. For more than 30 years he worked and played in the business that he truly loved. As a young man, long before joining the A/V industry, Phil had his own rock band and even opened for the Doors. He also hosted a radio show and spent some time working with his father at the horse tracks. A pretty heady choice of career paths, but perhaps it was his love of music and the hunt for perfection of audio fidelity that moved him into, and kept him rooted in, our business.”
He is survived by a cousin, David Callahan.
A memorial service will take place on July 3 at 11:00 a.m. at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Newport Beach.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to:
The Casie Hyde Memorial Foundation
943 8th Street
Manhattan Beach, CA, 90266
Casie Hyde, the granddaughter of David Callahan, was killed in a car accident in 2005.
