Joseph “Jay” Glaser Rowell of Wilmette passed away Sunday July 28, 2024 at the age of 79 with his family present after fighting a long illness. He was born December 26, 1944 in Chicago, the son of Marsh Mason and Augusta Rowell, nee Glaser. When he wasn’t playing golf or tennis, he spent his youth tormenting his younger sisters and getting into all sorts of other trouble and fun – such as running with the bulls in Pamplona.  A lifelong lover of all things tennis, Jay could literally knock the racket out of his opponent’s hand, which he endeavored to do often, since he could easily hit the ball very, very hard.  He tended bar more than he attended classes at Southern Illinois University where he hosted legendary pig roasts with chunks of the football team.  During one college summer he took classes at William and Mary and worked as a docent.  Curiously, tour guides there were required to wear a cassock (a long, white robe with a high, white collar) which led to all sorts of amusing and horrifying confessionals before he got the words – “I’m not ordained …” out of his mouth.

Jay met the love of his life, Edith, nee Sheehan, at South Shore Country Club when they were 19. He doggedly drove from his home in Northfield to Beverly to win her heart. He was drafted into the US Army in 1968, and it was while being stationed on Okinawa that he and Edith wed.  And they were so in love they got married three times in three different services.  It was also there that the nickname VOGR – Vanquisher of Giant Roaches – was born as his tennis racket was repurposed to whack roaches out their front door.  After lashing lawn chairs to their apartment’s roof to really get the full impact of more than one typhoon, Jay was honorably discharged in 1970 and from the Reserves in 1974.

The couple spent their honeymoon touring the amazing sites of Asia, not giving much concern that many of their destinations were enmeshed in all-out armed conflict.  They rather famously were on the last flight to leave Siam Repp Cambodia as the Khmer Rouge shelled the airport. He and Edith would continue to travel the world – Egypt, China, and India, to name a few places - throughout their lives together

Jay returned stateside only to find that all of his earthly possessions had been donated by his mother who abhorred clutter.  Starting anew, the couple moved to Evanston and began their life together in earnest.  After a stint at his family’s electrical manufacturing firm – and his son, Jay, is still amazed that his family’s company made the grip used to fly the Space Shuttle – he began a fruitful career in advertising.  He played key roles in promoting the Culligan Man as well as great ads for Red Lobster, and Amoco, among dozens of others.  But he still found time to volunteer his talents as a board member of both the Red Cross of Chicago and the Gilbert & Sullivan Opera of Chicago.  Jay also guided developments all over Wilmette as a Chair of its Plan Commission.

Jay was most proud of his work getting Telaction off the ground.  A precursor to internet shopping, Telaction was a venture start-up using one’s television and a touch tone phone to order just about anything.  From there, Jay served as a management consultant guiding companies of all sizes through mergers, transition to a new generation of owners, or just getting off the ground.  Along the way he managed to graduate from Loyola University Chicago and earned an MBA from Northwestern University.

After retiring from his consulting career, he mentored dozens of businesses as part of the Small Business Administrations’ SCORE program.  An avid reader, he was happy to impart his wealth of knowledge to anyone he came across – often doing so in the aisles of the local grocery store and at family parties for sure.

Jay is survived by his only child, Jay, for whom he absolutely would have, and often did, anything for.  He once called dozens of people all over the world to source rabies vaccines for young Jay after he was bitten by a dog on one of his international backpacking adventures.  He enjoyed hearing about his daughter-in-law Annette’s work as a midwife.  He adored his grandchildren Vivienne and June.  Some of his happiest memories were of taking care of Vivienne when she was only a few months old and reading books to June.

Jay was preceded in death by his parents and his two sisters Paula and Joyce (McCarron).  He is survived by his wife Edith, son Jay, daughter-in-law Annette (Payot) and grandchildren Vivienne and June as well as his sisters Susan (Southwell), Judith (Blackburn), Mary (Rowell White) and brother Mason – as well as many nieces/nephews.

Celebration of Life will be on October 26th with details to follow or contact Jay@Rowell.org.  Interment is private. Condolence and guestbook are found at evanstonfuneral.com.  He loved trees and plants (plant one in his honor below) but loathed anything that might dirty the house so no flowers please.  Donations may be made to the Division of Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine, MSC 1082-414-2555, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130 or online at www.giving.wustl.edu/oncology. Please indicate the gift is in memory of “Joseph G Rowell for pancreatic cancer research” by writing a memo on your check.