PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - In memoriam

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In memoriam - Phil Reinhardt 1951-2012

It is with a sad heart that I announce to the forums that Phil Reinhardt recently passed away (last night / this morning) from a heart attack. We found out from Phil’s fiancé (due to be married next month) and his son this morning, and our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time. Phil was 61- his birthday was yesterday. Phil was a great team member and will be greatly missed here at Pelican. He was very excited about moving back to California and joining us here on our home turf.

I don't have any details quite yet on flowers, or donations to foundations / charities, but I will post as soon as I have any info.

Thanks everyone for your understanding and support,

Wayne

Addition: Phil's kids asked me to add this info to the first post:

Quote:

We are collecting donations
Hello friends and family of Phil. I should probably just call everyone family because that is how our dad saw everyone.He was that amazing guy who would do anything for anybody who asked, gave selflessly of his time and money and hardly ever thought about himself. He loved Jesus, his family, loved to cook and would make huge meals to feed people, he would host karaoke which was a passion of his, he loved cars and car parts and made it a life's work and dedication.

Our dad was the most amazing man we have ever known and the loss of him has hit us hard.As you all know, my dad passed away suddenly of a heart attack on Wednesday, November 28th which was also his 61st birthday. He loved life and lived it fiercely. One of my dad's favorite quotes was this:"The purpose of life's journey is not to arrive at the grave with a well-preserved body, but rather to Slide in Sideways, completely used up, yelling and screaming, what a ride! "This quote represents our dad well. Phil would give everything he owned, which wasn't much, to anyone who would ask.

Due to our dad's focus on others and not his self he did not prepare for his passing. My brother Jason and I have been trying to get money together to care for him and to hold a memorial service. If you would like to make a donation of any amount to his memorial fund we would be very grateful. We would also love to have anyone who loved him join us in any way they can for his honoring on Friday, December 7th. Details will be given to Pelican Parts soon. My dad loved to rock his Hawaiian shirts and favorite cowboy hat. He spoke with much joy and affection about all of the people he got to talk with everyday through his job with Pelican Parts. He loved people!

My husband James has an introverted personality and he would marvel at my dad...how he made friends everywhere he went. We were in California at a dinner and western show event with him one year. He wandered off and we were trying to find him in the crowd of people. We finally found him off talking to a group of people. We stood there in awe as he easily joked and bantered with these strangers who, from an outside perspective, looked like long lost family. This couple on their honeymoon gave him their contact information so they could keep in touch. That was after a 20 minute conversation! What a gift he had, what a lover of people! He was the most non-judgmental, kind and loving man that has graced my life. Thank you everyone for caring for him and letting him touch your lives!

Details to be posted soon...

All members wishing to donate that have problems using online payments, please contact vstech via email to send physical funds. Jennifer will be traveling a lot and wishes me to handle the payments that cannot be made online.
Donation Page

Direct Donation Link

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts (Post 3058078)

How very sad. Phil was a gem. He always made me feel that my parts were important to him.
He will be missed.

That is very sad news. My condolences to his family.

My condolences. He was always helpful - especially when things went awry.

This is sad news, indeed. I too, felt that he always took my problems seriously and got my parts to me over night as if it were his emergency. He will be missed.

Always so much patience with my "dumb" questions about parts and when talking to him he always gave me the feeling I was the only client, never in a rush and always knew who I was. Imagined him sitting in an old shack filled with old binders full of Mercedes parts...with a light bulb hanging of the ceiling and an old rotary phone...RIP.

R.I.P. Phil. What a great guy to order parts from. As has been stated, he genuinely cared about you when talking with him about ordering parts. He will be greatly missed. Prayers for his family.

Same age a me, too young.

WOW. Just WOW. What a shame! Condolences to all...

RIP to Phil, with prayers and thoughts for his friends and family. It sounds as though he was happy and enjoying his life, which is a blessing.

I had not yet had the opportunity to deal with Phil. But I have read so many messages of appreciation and thanks from people who he helped on this list, that I looked forward to it.

I am very sorry for the loss of such a great team member and a man who was obviously committed to his work.

My sympathy to his family and fiancée.

Did he post under Fastlane Phil???

Wow. Phil was always so helpful. He will be missed in a lot of places.

Wow what a shock, I talked to him many times when ordering parts. I always have a problem using my credit card because the billing address is a P.O. box, and the parts were delivered to my home address. Phill would then have to re-enter the parts I ordered, and some times a lot of numbers. The problem was in the security. He never acted like he was rushed or under pressure, always had the time for me.

Phill was like a good friend, one heck of a nice guy I always wanted to meet him.:(

Phill did Retire as I remember, then came back to what he loved.

Our prayer go out to his family and Fiance'.

Charlie

I am Phil's daughter Jennifer

Hello everyone,
I am full of grief and pain as I type this. Last night I kept calling his work line to listen to his voice on his answering machine and when I called this afternoon I saw that it had been transfered. I decided to check here and was moved by the kind words from all of you. I cannot for a second express what an amazing man my dad was. The man who cared so much about your parts was the man I watched my whole life live and love people in that very way. Every ridiculous worry I had or dumb thing I came to him with he greeted with concern, love and like you all have noticed, made my problems his problems. I have to say he cared so much about all of you. I used to laugh at him as he went on and on about all the wonderful people he got to talk to on a daily basis and got so much joy out of helping others. My grandfather used to say my dad "never met a stranger". That was a statement I never understood as a kid but now know is true. He was so geniune, so loving and so wonderful. What you saw is what you got, nothing fake. He was exactly the same way at home as he was on that phone with his customers. I can't even breathe to picture a world without him in it. He was my confidant, my rock, who I turned to when I hurt. I am hurting now and he is gone. Everyone would always say "Phil would give you the shirt off his back" and one day he actually did, I kid you not. I watched him take his shirt off and give it to someone who didn't have one and it was cold. Thank you, all of you truly for your kind words. I needed to see that others loved him as much as he loved you all.