Jack Byrne Rose

He is survived by Nancy Rose, his second wife of 34 years, and by his daughter Lisa Bowers and his grandsons John Bowers and Jeff Bowers. Jack's daughter Suzanne Asbury and his son, Jack, Jr. predeceased him. He is also survived by his stepdaughters Casey McGrath Giarman and Molly McGrath, and his step granddaughters Miranda Lis, Cecilia Giarman and Amelia Lis.

Jack was born on September 25, 1931 in San Francisco. His birth name was John Byrne Code; but when he was a teenager, he adopted "Rose," his stepfather's name, as his last name.. He attended Lawton Grammar School, Polytechnic High School and the University of San Francisco.

Jack started his career in retail men's clothing when he went to work in 1951 at the age of 19 as a stock boy at Roos Brothers. By 1952 when he went into the Army, he had been promoted to department manager. In 1954 he completed his military duty and returned to Roos Brothers where he advanced to buyer, then store manager and then merchandise manager before moving to Grodins as vice president and general manager in 1961. Roos-Atkins, the new name after the 1957 merger of Roos Brothers and Robert Atkins, lured Jack back as president a decade later in 1971, but then lost him again in 1974 when Jack became a partner and president of Grodins. When asked about his amazing rise to the top without any family connections, Jack always said that his long hours never felt like work; to him his work was great fun and a chance to improve the way men dressed.

On January 25, 1974, Herb Caen, the famous San Francisco columnist, led off his daily column with the headline: "THE BIG JAYWALK: Bright, young Jack Rose, who marched across Market Street from Grodins (where he was exec-veep) to become President of Roos/Atkins a couple of years ago, will shortly march right back across the street to rejoin Grodins as President and Chief Exec Officer. Despite the color suggested by his last name, Rose took R/A out of the red and into the black." In 1975, Sidney P. Allen, financial editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, referred to Jack as "dapper, dapper Jack B Rose." Kevin Starr, Californian historian and author, wrote in 1981 that Jack Rose's dress was "dazzling" in the mode of the Ivy League and "looked like a successful professor of literature at Harvard, Cornell, Yale or Princeton".

Jack retired as President of Grodins in 1986, and he and his wife Nancy began to travel extensively. They fell in love with the British Isles. They took courses at the British Museum in London to learn about antique prints and engravings. They bought many prints and engravings in England, mainly at auctions all over the country, and had them hand mounted (matted) in London and brought them back to San Francisco to start a successful business selling them. Nancy would say that Jack is getting his "retail fix," and he loved this new type of retail. This business required approximately four to five trips a year to England, which they relished, and they usually rented small cottages in the beautiful countryside and flats in London.

Jack and Nancy went on a Danube River Cruise in 1997 that featured informative lectures and three chamber music concerts each day, and this was the beginning of a passionate love of chamber music for both Jack and Nancy. In 2003, they moved to Reno, Nevada, where one of the country's top chamber music festivals is held between Christmas and New Year's each year, and they became sponsors of this event. Last month a string quartet from the Reno Chamber Orchestra visited Jack at his bedside in San Francisco and performed a concert for him.

Jack was a connoisseur of Bordeaux wines and had an extensive collection; he enjoyed thoroughly researching the wines he bought and drank.

Jack was a life-long avid tennis player. He was a member of the California Tennis Club in San Francisco and the Caughlin Club in Reno. He was a member of the USTA Super Senior Doubles Championship Team in 2003.

Jack had a great sense for style, design, quality and colors. He was a very warm, generous, caring, patient and thoughtful man; he was fair, polite, extremely responsible, honest and good to the core.

Jack will be buried in Tallahassee, Florida. Services will be held in Tallahassee and Reno. Please email Casey Giarman at [email protected] if you wished to be notified as to time and location.

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers contributions to the Jack Rose Fund, Nevada Chamber Music Festival c/o Reno Chamber Orchestra, 925 Riverside Drive, Set 5, Reno, NV 89503