Coach Jack Anthony Rose passed away on November 3rd after a short illness. Jack was an assistant professor and baseball coach for 36 years at the University of Denver. He amassed 785 wins and was the winningest coach at DU during his storied career. He hung up his jersey for the final time in 1997 and ranked fifth on the NCAA’s Division II list of winningest coaches in history. In all, 31 of his former student-athletes signed professional contracts, almost half of the 67 professional athletes in the history of DU Athletics at the time of his induction into the University of Denver Hall of Fame. In 1970, Rose was named the District VII Coach of the Year in Division I and was the Colorado Intercollegiate Baseball Association Coach of the Year in 1989. Rose served as a member of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Advisory Committee for more than a decade, while also serving as the director of Olympic tryouts ahead of the 1984 Olympic Games. Rose also earned recognition off the diamond, adding DU’s Outstanding Faculty Award to his list of extraordinary accomplishments during his time in Crimson and Gold. In 2017, 60 former pioneer baseball players joined the celebration of Rose’s 85th birthday.
He previously coached at Rubidoux High School in Riverside, California for three years. His team won the Southern California state championship in his second year at the helm. Jack was an all-state tennis player in high school and also played varsity basketball and baseball at Queen Anne High School in Seattle, Washington. He graduated from the University of Washington with a masters in education. He attended college on a tennis and an Air Force ROTC scholarship. After college, Jack served in the Air Force at Travis AFB and Lowry AFB. During the initial construction of the United States Air Force Academy, Captain Rose was a member of the first instructor class at the USAFA when it was located at Lowry AFB. He also served as the Colorado Lt Governor for Kiwanis. He continued to be involved in baseball upon his retirement as the Rockies scorekeeper for ten years.
Though many people have jobs or a profession, Coach Rose had a calling; a love for teaching and coaching. He was privileged to coach and improve the opportunities of hundreds of young men though athletic scholarships and an education at the University of Denver. His legacy is the accomplishments of the athletes he coached and the men they became.
Coach Rose is survived by his wife Dee of 61 years, son LCDR Tom Tucker (Tami Tucker), daughters Susan Hendrickson and Lisa Pulk (Peter Pulk), granddaughters Heather Enochs (Kirk Enochs), Kristen Hendrickson, grandsons Jeff Tucker, Chris Tucker, Kyler Enochs, Devin Jernigan (Savanah Massingill) and Ben Hendrickson, great granddaughter Reese Wolfe, great grandsons Nolan Enochs and Emerson Hendrickson, and great great granddaughter Adeline Rose Wolfe.
A Committal Service for Jack will be held at 10:30 am, Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at Fort Logan National Cemetery - Staging Area "B", 4400 W Kenyon Ave, Denver, CO 80236. A Celebration of Life Reception will follow beginning at 11:30 am at Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary in the Summit Reception Room, 6601 South Colorado Blvd, Centennial, CO 80121.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.olingerchapelhill.com for the Rose family.
