Philip Wesley Salden

On Saturday, the 5th of September, in Novi, Michigan, Philip Wesley Salden, passed away at the age of eighty-eight. He was born the 9th of February 1932 in Alma, Michigan. Philip is preceded in death by his parents, Carl Harry and Marie Salden, by his brothers 1st Lt Vern Salden (KIA October 1944), Carl Wilbur Saldeen (November 2012), by his wife Audrey Martin Salden (September 1982) and his wife Peggy Culver Salden (May 2010), and by his beloved dog, Hanna, all of whom he loved and was loved by.

Phil graduated St. Louis High School in the class of 1949. He went on to Alma College, Michigan and graduated from Michigan State College class of 1954 with a degree from the School of Engineering. A patriot, Phil served his country for the following two years in the United States Air Force. Afterward, he worked for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company as a valued member of their Design and Sales Engineer team in Akron, Ohio and then Detroit, Michigan. His lifelong appreciation for mechanics, knack for engineering, and personal touch are fondly remembered. Phil’s craftsman’s eye and quit wit led him to discover a talent for sales, which he carried on the IPC and Freudenberg-NOK, as an Account Manager. After a forty-year career, Phil retired in 1996.

In his personal life, Phil was a valued member of his communities. He was a thirty-eight-year member of Alcoholics Anonymous and proud of his sobriety. He was a thirty-year member of the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Engineering Society of Detroit. He served on the Board of Directors for the Locklin Pines Condominium Association. Phil was a National Rifle Association member and proudly collected and bore arms for his entire life. He was a lifelong Freemason and a member of the Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in Breckenridge. He was a scratch golfer and played at every opportunity. Phil was an avid read and talented woodworker. His children and neighbors were in awe that he could fix anything at home. He was a self-described “gourmet food advocate.” And, he hated Comcast.

Most importantly, Phil raised a family; he was a son, brother, uncle, father, grandfather and great-grandfather and twice a husband. In 1955, he met and fell in love with Audrey Irene Martin of Osage, Iowa, while stationed in Harlingen, Texas. They married and moved to Akron, where they raised their three children, Linda, Dawn and Daniel and moved to Dearborn in the mid 1960’s. Phil is survived by his daughter Linda, grandson Patrick and granddaughter Kelsey; daughter Dawn, granddaughter Elaine and grandson Bennett; son Daniel, granddaughter Alessandra and grandson Nicholas and six great-grandchildren, all of whom cherish his memory.

Phil loved golf, guns, gourmet food, family, freedom and the United States of America. Most of all, he loved dogs, sharing his home and company with them for the majority of his life. Memorial services are delayed due to the COVID pandemic. Contributions in his memory can be made to any Humane Society or Pit Bull Rescue.