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Oldest working CEO Jack Weil dies at 107

By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 14, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Updated August 14, 2008 at 9:16 a.m.

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Jack A. Weil, owner and C.E.O. of Rockmount Ranch Wear, puts on his hat as he leaves for the day from his desk at the company headquarters located at 1626 Wazee street in Denver in 2007.

Photo by Barry Gutierrez © The Rocky

Jack A. Weil, owner and C.E.O. of Rockmount Ranch Wear, puts on his hat as he leaves for the day from his desk at the company headquarters located at 1626 Wazee street in Denver in 2007.

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Jack A. Weil, the oldest working CEO in America and patriarch of a LoDo clothing company that put the snap in Western wear, died Wednesday night at the age of 107.

Weil died at home surrounded by members of his family, said his oldest grandson, Steve Weil. A service is scheduled for Sunday at Temple Emanuel, but a time has not been set.

Since founding the Rockmount Ranch Wear Manufacturing Co. in 1946, "Papa Jack" Weil and his company have been a fixture in lower downtown. He saw value in the former warehouse district long before it became fashionable as LoDo.

With his cowboy hat, folksy manner and his favorite greeting - "Where you from?" - he welcomed everyone from truck drivers to celebrities like Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Robert Redford and Eric Clapton.

They all got the same friendly treatment, said Steve Weil, who went to work for his grandfather full time in the 1980s.

Status never mattered. "He didn't care about what you were, he cared about who you were," his grandson said.

His death comes about eight months after his son, Jack B. Weil, died.

Symbol of the city

Until a few weeks ago, the eldest Weil was a fixture in the store on a part of Wazee Street that the city renamed "Jack A. Weil Boulevard" when he turned 100.

Each day, he would put in about four hours at the store, serving as the official greeter before heading for lunch with his son at the Denver Athletic Club.

For many years, his grandfather was "kind of the family secret," Steve Weil said, someone his family admired and loved.

But in recent years, he became the face of the company and later a memorable symbol for the city itself. He was featured on billboards and videos created by the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"He was part of our brand. He's part of what makes Denver the West," said Mayor John Hickenlooper, who remembered Weil for his entrepreneurial spirit and ceaseless optimism.

"He was somebody who just by being in the room helped everyone feel better," said Hickenlooper, who remembered first meeting "Jack A." back in 1987, when he asked him to sign a petition for a liquor license for what became the Wynkoop Brewing Co.

Hickenlooper remembered Weil being skeptical of the idea of opening a restaurant in what had been a warehouse district, but on his grandson's recommendation he signed the petition.

"He believed in self-reliance, but also in the value of community," Hickenlooper said, recalling the care Weil took in his business relations with the retailers who sold his Western wear.

Andrew Hudson, who got to know Weil better while serving as spokesman for former Mayor Wellington Webb, said the 107-year-old businessman's influence went far beyond LoDo.

"He was an icon," Hudson said. "He believed in business ethics long before it became a buzzword."

'Twinkle in his eye'

Westword Editor Patricia Calhoun recalled meeting Weil back in the 1970s when Westword's offices were located near Rockmount.

"He was just funny as anything and really created a tremendous legacy in this town," Calhoun said, adding that she enjoyed seeing him every St. Patrick's Day at McCormick's restaurant.

"He always had a twinkle in his eye and told these great jokes, usually at the expense of Democrats," she recalled. It probably would have tickled him to see Democrats buying his shirts during the convention later this month, she said.

Stewart Patton, the doorman at the Oxford Hotel, got to know Weil after helping him into a car one day.

"He said, 'Where you from?' And I said, 'Oh a little town in Indiana you probably never heard of.' "

"Try me," Weil answered.

"Poseyville, Indiana," Patton said.

"Poseyville? That's seven miles from Harmony. My brother and I used to herd cattle through there in 1918."

Thereafter, Weil would always say howdy to Patton, and then, with a twinkle in his eye, added, "Do you believe he didn't think I knew where Poseyville was?"

Weil was born March 28, 1901, in Evansville, Ind., where his father, Abraham, who lived until 90, was a cattleman.

During a labor shortage in World War I, Weil went to work after school in the DS Bernstein Overall Factory, where he began a lifetime of learning the apparel manufacturing business.

When he started Rockmount, Weil became what his grandson called "the Henry Ford" of Western shirts by inventing the sawtooth pocket and diamond snap design.

Weil is survived by his daughter, Jane Romberg, of Steamboat Springs, and by five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

ensslinj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5291

A Denver cowboy legend

Jack "Papa Jack" A. Weil

* March 28, 1901: Born in Evansville, Ind.

* World War I: Works after school at DS Bernstein Overall Factory in Evansville, learning apparel manufacturing

* 1926: Marries Beatrice Baum of Humboldt, Tenn.

* 1928: A. Stein Co. sends him to Denver to open an office on Champa Street

* 1932: Partners with Phil Miller in a Western- apparel company that eventually becomes Miller Stockman

* 1946: Founds Rockmount Ranch Wear Mfg. on Wazee Street

* 1974: Brother Edgar Weil dies

* 1990: Wife Beatrice dies

* 2001: City of Denver renames Wazee Street to Jack A. Weil Boulevard to celebrate his 100th birthday, a tradition that continues each year. He also celebrates his birthday by appearing on Good Morning America.

* February 2002: Rockmount Ranchwear Co. opens first retail store at site of its offices, 1626 Wazee St.

* November 2002: Rockmount Ranchwear Co. opens first mall store at Colorado Mills. * 2007: Denver Convention and Visitors Bureau features Jack A. Weil in national advertising campaign for city of Denver and he is featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (the show films him in Denver)

* January 2008: Son Jack B. Weil dies

* May 2008: Jack A. Weil is one of four Denver luminaries celebrated in a fundraiser performance at the Curious Theatre

Comments

  • August 14, 2008

    6:34 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Hambone writes:

    The greatest Western shirts EVER!

    RIP Jack

  • August 14, 2008

    8:58 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Marshdale writes:

    What a cool old guy. Never met him but I'm sure I would have liked him. Did meet Daddy Bruce a few times. Another cool old Guy. The city needs more people like this.

  • August 14, 2008

    9:18 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    LadyBird112 writes:

    "I met him once while shopping at the store, and he talked me up for about a half hour about an amatuer basketball league in the 30's."

    I love old people like that--I've never been in the store, but I used to walk past it everyday on my way to school/work. Sounds like he was a great guy--had no idea he was so up there. RIP.

  • August 14, 2008

    9:22 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Phred_in_Parker writes:

    A great icon of Denver with personality plus!!! Enjoyed his Rockmount western wear over the years. And it is amazing who all wore his shirts. May he rest in well deserved peace.

  • August 15, 2008

    2:36 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jssigman writes:

    I am great grandchild number 7. Papa was my great grandfather. best there ever was. But I want to make something clear. He is not the "papa jack" celebrity people make him out to be. he was a sweet simple man and all he ever wanted to do was be happy and keep the western dream alive. people who really knew him never called him "papa jack" that is a gimmick made for him. I think it's great that so many people know and adore him, but sad at the same time that they only know the Papa that the media has made. i know the papa would hide candy in his pocket for me and played checkers with me and he would beat me every time and say "what? you think i was born yesterday?" Every time i drive his old green dodge Chrysler that i got for my 16th birthday, i think of him. its the "jackmobile!" i loved him very much and wish that even a third of the people that think they know him, knew the guy i knew. because he was great and beautiful and everlasting.