Phillip T. Chase

Fifty-seven-year Palisades resident Phillip T. Chase passed away on July 17 at the age of 94. A truly unique and accomplished individual, Phil was a devoted husband to his beloved wife Judy (1938-2021) for 56 years.

A Graveside Service will be held at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at the Schuyler cemetery with military honors. Svoboda Moravec Johnson Mortuary is assisting Phillip's family with burial. 

Phil was born March 26, 1930, in Schuyler, Nebraska, where his family operated the town drug store and his grandfather had been the very first mayor. After Schuyler High School, he obtained a BS in engineering from the University of Nebraska and an MBA from Stanford.

Phil served in the U.S. Navy as an electronics officer in the latter part of the Korean War. After moving to Los Angeles, he first worked at North American Aviation, then moved to Hughes Aircraft where around 1962 he designed one of the first ever computer software systems for managing industrial equipment and tooling.

Forming Property Management Systems in 1965 as a side job at first, Phil provided seminars and consulting on topics including Test Equipment Utilization and Integrated Property Management Databases.

By 1971 he had left Hughes and designed a unique computerized equipment specification catalog, which quickly became popular and later was patented. Phil’s first customers included Idaho National Laboratory, McDonnell Douglas, Texas Instruments and TRW.

Phil was a true pioneer in the earliest days of business software and was deeply passionate about what has evolved into the leading AssetSmart® asset and logistics management software suite. Current clients include AT&T, Boeing, Johns Hopkins, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and many other premier high-tech companies.

As a patriotic American particularly concerned about government overspending, inefficiency and corruption, Phil was twice inspired to run for national office representing Nebraska, first trying for U.S. Senate in 2002 and in 2004 aiming for a Congressional seat.

In addition to his other endeavors, Phil was a serious amateur sailboat racer and completed the grueling Transpac race from California to Hawaii. Among many career victories, in 1989 he won the Pacific Class national championship in his 1943 wooden Kettenburg PC “Sea Chase.”

He was a classic car aficionado as well, regularly spotted cruising around in his Bentley and Cadillac convertibles. Just recently Phil enthusiastically restored his 1959 Thunderbird and 1972 Country Squire Station Wagon.

Phil is survived by four children—Elizabeth, Mary, Francesca and Charles—and eight grandchildren. Memorial services will be held at Corpus Christi Church in Pacific Palisades at 11 a.m., Saturday, August10, with a reception following at the Chase residence.