Jill Ann Rose

Jill Rose of Tarrytown, New York, died on Saturday, October 31, 2015 at her home. She was 52.

Born on July 2, 1963, Jill was the daughter of Joyce and David Rose of Frederick, Maryland. Jill graduated from Governor Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick and the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.

Jill was an award-winning chef, pastry chef, restaurant owner, entrepreneur, teacher and visionary. But her mother said that Jill was not very interested in food preparation as a child; she preferred to do “what the boys get to do.” She loved camping, horseback riding, fishing, and being out of the kitchen. She was the first female to play on the Yellow Springs Elementary School baseball team. She simply tucked her long hair up into her cap and went to bat.

Starting as a teenager selling lemonade in Frederick, she soon launched her first transcontinental business – lemonade stands at fairs and festivals. Around that time she also enjoyed her first experience with French cuisine when her Aunt Rose took her to a classic French restaurant in Washington DC. From those beginnings and with professional training, she moved to the kitchens of some of the top US hotel restaurants including New York’s La Caravelle, Washington’s “Lespinasse,” and many others.

Jill owned a restaurant in Frederick and more recently, a popular restaurant in Tarrytown. More than a decade ago Jill discovered a Tarrytown space(actually a laundromat), rehabbed it as a French bistro and bakery, put a pastry display case in front, and named it after a French pastry cream, Chiboust. The restaurant was an instant success attracting patrons from the entire northeast region and winning rave reviews from the Westchester press and the New York Times.

Jill was a teacher too, hiring restaurant staff, some untrained, and teaching them about food and the restaurant business. In the community she excited children of all ages teaching them to cook and making it more fun by inviting their parents to eat what the children had made. She was most gratified when disadvantaged students she taught at Urban Horizons Food Company in the Bronx were able to gain the skills they needed to get jobs in kitchens.  One of her students wrote: “I am the woman I am today because of you.”

After being diagnosed with breast cancer at age 49, Jill changed her priorities: she wanted to travel and spend time with her family and friends. She traveled from Thailand to Hawaii, from British Columbia to Mexico, and several countries in Europe. She bought a Eurovan, named “Gigi,” and traversed the United States, camping, kayaking, and fishing along the way. She enjoyed one-on-one adventures with her family members and huge number of loving friends.

A self-described optimist on overdrive, Jill adopted the motto, “Embrace Life,” and spent her life living her intent.

She is survived by, in addition to her parents, a brother, Doug Rose and partner, Tobey Gary, and loving aunts, Irene Petersen, Mary Jones, and Rose Strokes, and uncles, Joe Wedel and wife, Elaine, Richard Jones (“Doc”,) and Sal Marinosci. She was predeceased by grandparents, Margaret Rose and Helen and Wallace Wedel.

A Celebration of Jill’s Life will begin on Saturday, November 7, at 1:00 pm at The Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow at the Old Dutch Burial Ground, 430 North Broadway, followed immediately after by festivities at The Lodge at Hudson Harbor (Sales Office entrance), 2 Hudson View Way, Tarrytown.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Phelps Hospice - https://phelpshospital.org/online-donation/ or                                                         Tarrytown Volunteer Ambulance Corps (TVAC) - http://www.tarrytownvac.org/contact_us.htm

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