Roger Dennis Linquist

Roger Dennis Linquist, 77, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family at his home in Dallas on Wednesday, September 16, after a lengthy battle with cancer. At the time of his death he was CEO and Managing Partner of NxGen Partners, a private equity fund based in Dallas.

Born in Elmwood Park, Illinois on June 26, 1938, and raised by his single mother in Chicago, Roger graduated with honors in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1961 and was a member of two national engineering honor societies, Pi Tau Sigma and Tau Beta Pi. After graduation, Roger was accepted for graduate studies at the Rocket Propulsion Laboratory in the School of Mechanical Engineering including a full-time Research Assistantship. After graduating in 1963 with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering and subsequently working for Air Research in Phoenix for a year, Roger applied and received a full tuition scholarship to study in the MBA program at Northwestern which he believed would complete his formal education and help him realize his goal of someday owning and operating a business.

While working part-time to support his family, Roger graduated in the summer of 1966 and went to work for Texas Instruments (TI) in Dallas, for ten years. The majority of that time spent working as a branch manager in the Central Research Laboratories applying new technologies to advanced product systems.

In the spring of 1976, Roger accepted an opportunity to become a management consultant with McKinsey and Company in New York and was transferred to Dallas the following year. After consulting for a number of years with major corporations, including NASA where he was the engagement manager on a study of the Space Transportation Systems (Shuttle) organization, he accepted a position at Communications Industries (CI), a public company in Dallas in 1982. Within six months he became VP and General Manager of Gencom (CI), the Radio Common Carrier Division and in 1985 was elected President and CEO of CI.

CI was acquired by Pacific Telesis in 1986 and Roger became Treasurer of Pacific Telesis and President and CEO of PacTel Personal Communications, the cellular and paging unit of Pacific Telesis, in early 1987. After a failed attempt to take PacTel public in the wake of “Black Monday” in the fall of 1987, Roger formed PageMart in Dallas in 1988 which subsequently became one of the largest public paging companies in the country.

Roger left PageMart to start General Wireless [MetroPCS] in 1994 to take advantage of the opportunity created by the federal government to increase competition in the wireless services sector. From an idea to green field start-up and through five years of litigation, and phenomenal growth over more than ten years, MetroPCS became the fifth largest facilities-based wireless communications company in the U.S., employing close to 4,000 people and listed in the Fortune 500 in 2012.

In 2011, Roger was the recipient of the National Ernst & Young, “Entrepreneur Award” for Media, Entertainment and Communications; the Metroplex, “Tech Titan” award; and, he was ranked 8th on the list of the Top 25 Most Powerful People in the U.S. Wireless, by Fierce Wireless, the wireless industry’s go-to online publication. He also received the DEA (Distinguished Engineering Alumni) award for 2015 from Purdue University.

While his professional successes are well documented, Roger’s motto of ‘family first’ motivated him to frequently take his children and grandchildren together with him and his wife Sue on memorable vacations throughout Europe during the summers and on holidays. Roger was a devoted and loving father whose faith and family were his first priorities. These guiding principles were evident in how he provided both for his family and the employees that worked for him.

He was preceded in death by his father, John Linquist and mother, Henrietta Linquist. Roger is survived by his loving wife of 45 years, Sue (Sandel) Linquist; his sons Corey Linquist & wife Karin of Rescue, CA; Todd Linquist & wife Michelle of Dallas; daughters Heather Campbell and husband, Andrew of Dallas; Tracey Terry and husband Phillip of Dallas; grandchildren Rachel, Corey, Savannah, Logan, Bennett, Isabelle, Avery, Jackson, Tommy, and Charley; brother-in-law John Sandel and wife, Lori of Dallas. He is also survived by numerous cousins, colleagues and friends. Special thanks to caregiver Jacquelyn Crenshaw Young for her service to Roger and his family.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, September 21, at 3:00pm at Highland Park Presbyterian Church, 3821 University Blvd. Dallas, TX 75205. A reception will follow the service at the church in Elliot Hall. The family's permanent memorial website for all postings is available at www.forevermissed.com/roger-d-linquist.