Long-time Greensboro Youth Hockey supporter Phil Segal has passed away at age 60:At one time, the “Cigar Man” was Smokin’ on the Ice

Greensboro Youth Hockey and Phil Segal went hand-in-hand back in the day and we got word today, that the long-time youth hockey supporter, Phil Segal has passed way, at age 6O…

He put a lot of time, effort and his own money into the Greensboro Youth Hockey programs and he was very avid in the whole scope of both amateur and professional hockey, in the Greensboro community…

He helped organize and coach youth hockey teams and he played in adult hockey programs in the Triad….He was a huge proponent at one time, for building the amateur hockey complex across the street from the Greensboro Coliseum, at the site of the old Tobacco USA building, and now where the Leon’s Beauty School sits…

The youth complex adjacent to the Coliseum never came about, although it did pass on a bond referendum or two, and in the end, the Ice House, over off of Stanley Road, near West Wendover Avenue, became the local hockey facility for amateur hockey players, both youth and adults…

Phil Segal was a huge Greensboro Monarchs hockey fan, and probably smoked more than one fine Cuban cigar with Monarchs’ coach from days gone by, Jeff Brubaker…..

Segal played in several adult hockey leagues over the years and didn’t mind footing the bills when it came to helping out the hockey teams on the ice and on the financial end…..Phil Segal could fill up the nets in his younger days and he filled the hearts of many locals, by helping to keep youth hockey alive in the Greensboro Community….

Phil was a big-time N.C. State fan and his family owned and operated the Worth Chemical Company, over off of Edwardia Drive for a number of years, before selling the company back in the late 80’s, to an early 90’s time frame…

Phil got much of his learning through N.C. State(N.C. State graduate) and the sell of the family chemical plant left him in a position to explore a hobby that he turned into a productive business….

Phil Segal became the “Cigar Man”, as he was known by many people around town….For what it is worth, he took some of his profits from the Worth Chemical sale and set sails on a new voyage, that would take him into a world that began to make/develop his hobby, into his passion…

Segal went from being Phil Segal and he became known as “Havana Phil” and he opened up his Havana Phil’s Cigar Shop on Battleground Avenue, beside Dan’s Fan City….

Havana Phil’s must have been/stayed at that BG Avenue site for around 15-20 years and you could spot the store by the looks of the HUGE Cigar out front of the business…..That might have been one of the biggest cigars on the east coast and there might be one in the same size frame, down at South of the Border, in Dillon, South Carolina, where I believe Pedro still calls home….

“Havana Phil’s” was a landmark in this town and about 3 years ago Phil Segal decided to branch out and move up the road/street closer to town, and he landed his ‘Cigar Franchise’ at the site/location of the former Cellar Anton’s Restaurant…

That was quite a move for Phil Segal, and I would think that move up to the old Cellar Anton’s Restaurant building, would have possibly tripled or quadrupled his floor space and you also have to take into account, now Phil had large upstairs space at the former Anton’s and the downstairs/cellar space to go with it, and he made a large number of improvements to the old Anton’s building just to get it back up to the building codes and when you drove by the building, you saw a very attractive space/site…”Havana Phil’s”, a great place to buy and smoke a fine cigar…..

Phil Segal even set up golf putting green along the outside landscape area of his new “Havana Phil’s” location and he added a smoking lounge for cigar smokers/aficionados to gather and smoke their tobacco, inside “Havana Phil’s” store…

The man was very innovative and his friends will surely miss him, now that Phil Segal/”Havana Phil” is gone…..

Phil Segal had tons of energy and it is hard to believe that he was only 60 years old, but now he is gone…

The man left a lasting mark in the Greensboro Hockey Community and his cigar vocation almost made his life like a vacation at times, as he was able to enjoy has hobby and his passion at the same time….

A tip of the hockey captain’s cap, a couple of smoke rings blowing up into the air, go out to Phil Segal today and although I only met him person once, I heard him on several radio shows talking hockey, with Jeff Brubaker and others on the old Greensboro Monarchs Hockey Shows, and I heard many of his radio ads over the years on WSJS radio, back in the day when they had that Sunday night cigar show with the ‘Cigar General’…

Thank-you Phil, for being an out-spoken voice for youth sports and hockey in our community and not only was he out-spoken, he was usually ‘out-smoking’ when his cigar number was called and from what most people tell us, when that cigar number came up, Phil Segal was ready to “Wheel and Deal”…..

Was told by good friend Tim Rich(Sprinkle Oil Company) that Phil had a son Phil IV, who was very good young hockey player back in his day and Phil Segal IV played hockey on youth hockey teams with Tim Rich’ son, T.J. Rich….From what Tim and his other son Trent were telling me today, the Segal family was a real deep Hockey Family…Phil Segal also had two daughters…..

Here is a little bit of perspective of the death and life of Phil Segal as I saw the details earlier this morning, in the News and Record online, at www.greensboro.com/Greensboro.com….

Segal III, Philip Michael

GREENSBORO Philip Michael Segal III, 60, of Kettering Place, died Wednesday, July 18, 2018. The funeral will be conducted at 1:00 p.m. Friday, July 20, 2018, at Temple Emanuel, with Rabbi Fred Guttman and Rabbi Andy Koren officiating. Interment will follow in the Hebrew Cemetery. Phil was born in Greensboro, NC on July 18, 1958, and was the founder of Havana Phil’s Cigar Company. He was a graduate of Grimsley High School and a graduate of North Carolina State University with a degree in textile chemistry. He is survived by his mother, Corinne Segal and husband Freddie Waxman; his wife, Kimberley Banks Segal; his children, Pepper Segal and husband Rudi Estrada, Philip Michael Segal IV and fiancé Hannah Scholze, and Elizabeth Segal; his brother, Paul Segal; and his grandchildren, Jaxson Estrada and Charlie Estrada. Memorial contributions may be directed to the Temple Emanuel, 1121 Jefferson Road, Greensboro, NC 27410 or to the Jimmy V Foundation, 14600 Weston Parkway, Cary, NC 27513. Forbis and Dick Guilford Chapel is serving the family and online condolences may be offered at www.forbisanddick.com.

CLICK HERE to see the Phil Segal photo from the News and Record obituary…..

CLICK HERE for an interview with did with Enad Haddad inside Havana Phil’s Cigar Shop, from Phil Segal’s first location on Battleground Avenue, on May 7, 2014….You will see Havana Phil/Phil Segal hanging out in the background…..