Jerome Francis Hasenpflug

Recollection of the Life of Jerome Francis Hasenpflug

June 11, 1955 – November 21, 2023

Jerome was born of Jane and Harry Hasenpflug in Houston, TX June 11, 1955. Jane is a Registered Nurse and Harry a Geophysicist. They moved from St. Louis to Houston in 1954. Jerry, with his brothers Jim and John, attended St. Thomas More Catholic School and Strake Jesuit College Preparatory. At Strake Jesuit, Jerry excelled and developed his natural rhetorical talent through debate team competition. He participated on the track team for exactly one workout. He graduated in 1973.

By 1976 he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Archeology & Anthropology, and a Master of Arts in Social Anthropology from Cambridge University. Jerry was rightly proud of earning admission to Cambridge, and upon arrival he was singularly surprised to learn that his father’s geophysics writings were used as Cambridge textbooks. Jerry studied at Harvard from 1976 to 1981, earning second Master of Arts in Social Anthropology, and doing Ph.D. fieldwork with the North American Indian Tribes. He lived among the Navajo in a hogan for over a year near Four Corners, New Mexico.

After formal education, he made a thirty-plus year career in food and beverage, specializing in French wine, cuisine, and culture. He was initially associated with Maison Portier et Fils, later with Seagram Chateau & Estate Wines Company, New Castle Imports, Palm Bay International, Inc. and finally with Esprit du Vin French Wine Merchants.

Jerome relished the culture of pleasure at table, tavern, and during travel.

While his primary interest was Europe, he knew much about world food culture, wine, and history. Jerry used his anthropological skills to tell compelling stories of wines in their environments – their makers, families, the soil and surroundings, and the local and regional history going back hundreds to thousands of years. He did this with joyful, infectious energy. This helped him make long-lasting friends.

In 2014, Jerry began a plan to move from New York City to live and work in France. Fifty-nine people – wine makers, importers, exporters, distributors - wrote letters to the French Consul supporting his application! Jerry established a French residence and, during the move from NYC, his father unexpectedly died Tuesday, February 17, 2015. Jerry decided to personally care for his mother, since Jim and his family lived near Fort Worth, and his brother John had died years before in an accident. Jerry gave up France and lived with Jane for nearly nine years, until his last day, attending to her faithfully and lovingly.

Recollection of the Life of Jerome Francis Hasenpflug

June 11, 1955 – November 21, 2023

Jerry lived the 4th Commandment: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you." This shows his character and the formation provided by his family. For those who know his religious inclinations, you know that he denied God’s existence. Yet he joyfully lived this cornerstone Judeo-Christian value. Interesting, no? Jerry had a beautiful habit of joining friends at times of stress. His was a bright and welcome face, to see him walking down the hospital hallway, unannounced and unasked, to spend time with those he cared for at the end of their days ... this was a gift. Jerry relished in helping select wine and food enjoyed by family and friends at the dinners that followed. Gathering at the table had a spiritual dimension to him and he clearly said so at his last meal out with friends, just a few days before he left this life. That resonates deeply.

Later in life, Jerry adopted Jerome as preferred moniker. Some of his old-time friends wondered why. So, contrary to his wishes, and to our pleasure, a number of us called him Jerry, just because. But this time, let’s say “Here’s to Jerome!”

Jerome is survived by his mother Jane, brother Jim, sister-in-law Molly, sister-in-law Debra Ullman, nieces and nephews Christopher, Amanda Garraty, Michael, Matthew and Mitchell, grand nieces and nephews Ella, Jonathan, Andrew Garraty, and Robert Garraty. Among his closest friends are Bruno & Janet Pajaczkowski, Jane Walsh, and Mark Dulworth. He leaves many others behind. Special thanks go to his and Jane’s longtime caregiver and friend Glenda Robinson.

Gifts in Jerome’s memory may be made to Strake Jesuit College Preparatory or Churchill College, Cambridge University. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Monday, 10 AM, December 18, 2023, at St. Vincent de Paul Parish, 6800 Buffalo Speedway, Houston, TX 77025. A reception follows.

On The Death of A Friend
Pure as the mantle, which, o’er him who stood By Jordan’s stream,
Descended from the sky,
Is that remembrance which the wise and good
Leave in the hearts that love them, when they die.
So pure, so precious shall the memory be,
Bequeathed, in dying, to our souls by thee—
So shall the love we bore thee, cherisht warm
Within our souls thro’ grief and pain and strife,
Be, like Elisha’s cruse, a holy charm,
Wherewith to ‘heal the waters” of this life!

-Thomas Moore-

On the death of a friend, we should consider that the fates through confidence have devolved on us
the task of a double living, that we have henceforth to fulfill the promise of our friend’s life also, in our
own, to the world.

-Henry David Thoreau-