Jerry Rose

The Core Belief

When Mother went into labor with my younger brother Scot, she felt no sense of urgency, no rush. After all, I had take 23 hours to push myself into the world so precedent states she had at least another 22 to go.

However, Mom dutifully went to the hospital with my anxiety-ridden father. Once in the hospital room, Jerry Rose, noted OB-GYN and our neighbor, came into to check on Mother. “OK Judy,” he said, “let’s have a look. Fully dilated. Good. Give me a push…it’s a boy!”

Jerry Rose, hands softer than a shortstop.

“Uncle” Jerry, as my brothers and I knew him, was a man of whimsy and seriousness. He loved his jokes – when asked by someone what it was like to be an OB-GYN, looking at the female genitalia daily, Jerry replied ‘you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all” (His beloved wife “Aunt” Marlene did not find that bit funny at all) – and three kids but that never stopped him from being a serious physician who worked not only his own practice but the emergency room at Beaumont Hospital as well.

Jerry Rose died Sunday evening from complication of ALS brought on by dementia. He was 66.

A loss for the all of us who knew him and the medical communities of Michigan and Arizona. Jerry Rose is survived by his wife Marlene, daughter Melissa, sons Robbie and Michael and a granddaughter.

There are those who will remember Jerry for looking after them when they thought they were having a heart attack in the Beaumont Emergency Room in Royal Oak, Michigan or delivering their kids or just being a good father. I, however, learned one of life’s most important lessons from “Uncle” Jerry: in order to eat Challah and white bread properly, they must be dipped in Faygo Red Pop.

RIP.