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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Auction of a lifetime

Estate of Philip Grub, political adviser and business expert, filled with items collected during international travels

A lifetime of international collecting goes on the auction block Sunday when locally grown international business expert and political adviser Phillip Grub’s estate is sold at Owens Auction house in Spokane Valley.

Born in Medical Lake, Grub taught at George Washington University and advised presidents and international leaders before retiring on Spokane’s South Hill.

He died last spring at age 76, and now Grub’s brother, Carl Grub, is placing the contents of Phillip Grub’s Manito Place home for sale to benefit a soon-to-open youth ranch in Medical Lake.

The farm, called the Jensen Memorial Youth Ranch after two Medical Lake brothers who were killed while serving in the Vietnam War, will be a place where children can raise animals for 4-H and Future Farmers of America.

Phillip Grub worked all his life to help children and adults further their educations by both teaching himself and assisting students in the search for scholarships, Carl Grub said.

And Phillip Grub also worked to help businesses and politicians put their best feet forward in international dealings, advising Presidents Johnson, Nixon and Ford.

Much of his work centered on politics and business in Asia.

“President Nixon sent him to China a year before Henry Kissinger started the ping-pong diplomacy. He helped set that up,” said Carl Grub.

Much of Phillip Grub’s collection of antiques, furniture and decorative objects reflects the time he spent in Asia.

Statues of Thai dancers and Indian goddesses stand among hand-carved cabinets, golden birds, small silver boxes, cloisonné vases and huge stone gargoyles in the Owens auction house. It’s not all Asian art, however. Dutch and American paintings are also part of Grub’s extensive estate.

Auction house owner Jeff Owens said it will take two auctions to fully liquidate Grub’s possessions.

They recently filled three stories of the Grub’s Manito Place home – the only one in the neighborhood with an elevator.

“He went to 80 countries,” Owens said, adding, “It’s an honor for us to handle his collection. It’s one of the more important estate sales in Spokane in quite a while.”

Among the objects are presentation pieces from the leaders Grub worked with during his career, including a half-size replica of a sixth century A.D. gold and jade Korean crown.

Grub worked his way through school at Eastern Washington University before joining the U.S. Army for two years and then teaching in Twisp, Wash., and Mead, Carl Grub said. Phillip Grub then went on to get a master’s degree and doctorate at George Washington University.

He never forgot Medical Lake, though, continuing to help local kids.

That’s why Carl Grub said using the proceeds from the sale for the youth ranch is the perfect tribute to his brother.

The ranch is on land owned by Carl Grub and will be financed in part by a wheat farm he owns near Reardan. Money from the sale will play a large role in getting the project up and running.

Carl Grub said that he has room for 40 to 50 kids to raise animals at the ranch.

“We want to set up a program where we can buy animals for the kids and help pay for the feed, too,” he said, adding he also plans to build a clubhouse for the kids.

“I’m 71 years old and when they throw dirt on me, I want something to go on.”

Amy Cannata can be reached at (509) 459-5197 or amyc@spokesman.com.