Philip Hartley Trenary (August 1, 1954 – September 27, 2018) was an American businessman and civic leader who was the CEO and president of the

Greater Memphis Chamber The Greater Memphis Chamber is an organization in Memphis, Tennessee, which attempts to improve business to business relationships. The organization also helps companies understand the advantages of doing business in Memphis. Mission The mission o ...

of Commerce and a former CEO of

Pinnacle Airlines Endeavor Air is an American regional airline that operates as Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines. The airline was founded as Express Airlines I in 1985 and was renamed Pinnacle Airlines in 2002. In 2012, Pinnacle's parent company filed for Cha ...

Early life

Philip Hartley Trenary was born on August 1, 1954, in

Pawhuska Pawhuska ( osa, 𐓄𐓘𐓢𐓶𐓮𐓤𐓘 / hpahúska, ''meaning: "White Hair"'', iow, Paháhga) is a city in and the county seat of Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named after the 19th-century Osage chief, ''Paw-Hiu-Skah'', ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, the son of May Ruth and Buck Trenary.http://carnivalmemphis.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2005-King.pdf He grew up nearby in Shidler, Oklahoma. He learned to fly a plane before he learned to drive a car. Trenary earned a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering technology from

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

in 1979.

Career

In 1984, Trenary founded Exec Express Airlines (EEA) in Stillwater, Oklahoma. After EEA was moved to Texas in 1987, it was renamed Lone Star Airlines. In 1997, Trenary moved to Memphis to run a local airline that would become Pinnacle Airlines, a $1 billion turnover, regional airline employing 7,700 people.

Personal life and death

Trenary was married to Bridget, they had three children, and later divorced. Trenary was shot dead in Memphis on September 27, 2018. He was 64.

References

1954 births 2018 deaths People from Pawhuska, Oklahoma American company founders American chief executives Deaths by firearm in Tennessee People murdered in Tennessee Oklahoma State University alumni People from Memphis, Tennessee Businesspeople from Oklahoma Businesspeople from Tennessee 20th-century American businesspeople {{Oklahoma-stub