Jack Gleason loved women and their fashions, so he fulfilled his dream of owning a string of ladies’ dress shops.
Gleason, who died May 22 at age 84, owned five stores in Colorado, all called Jack Gleason.
The last one, the flagship store in University Hills, closed just last month.
“Dad loved women, loved fashion and the materials,” said his son, John Gleason, who worked with his father for several years.
A longtime retail clothier, Gleason decided on a women’s store because “he knew that women buy and shop more than men,” said his son.
“He kept exact notes on what customers bought and what they liked and when something came in, he thought a particular woman might like, he’d call her,” said John Gleason, who lives in Jackson, Tenn.
A natty dresser himself, Gleason was buried in dress slacks and his familiar yellow linen blazer.
After opening the first Jack Gleason store, Gleason opened others in Cherry Creek, Applewood, Marina Square and Fort Collins.
“He loved the challenge of going to New York and seeing the new fashions and anticipating what would sell,” said his daughter, Nancy Sinclair, of San Diego.
Though he might guide a customer to a particular garment, “he always believed the customer was king,” said Sinclair.
Sometimes Gleason picked out clothes for his wife, Edith Gleason. “Some she kept and some she took back, but she usually trusted his judgment,” said Sinclair.
John H. Gleason was born in Burlington, Vt., on Feb. 17, 1924, and went to schools there.
He was drafted into the Army in World War II and earned the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.
He met Edith Whitford Gould in Denver when he saw her portray Joan of Arc in a play. He said to himself, “Wow, she’s gorgeous,” said Sinclair. They married on Dec. 25, 1948.
She preceded him in death.
Gleason worked for several department stores before opening his own store here 31 years ago.
He sold men’s clothes at Joslin’s in Denver. He had executive positions with stores in Columbus and Dayton Ohio, Beverly Hills and San Bernadino, Calif., and Shreveport, La., before returning to Denver in 1977 and buying what was then The Casual Shop in University Hills.
In addition to his son and daughter, Gleason is survived by another daughter, Kate Eaton, of Denver; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
