Rites Set for Paul Daube, 78

by MR Magazine Staff May 08, 2007

NEW YORK – Funeral services for Paul H. Daube Jr. will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 10, at the Kelley & Spalding Funeral Home. As previously reported, Daube, the founder and president of Daube Co. Big & Tall, died last Saturday. He was 78.

The funeral will be preceded by visitation beginning at 5 p.m. The funeral home is located at 1787 Deerfield Road in Highland Park, Ill. Directions to the funeral home are available by calling (847) 831-4260 or at its web site at www.kelleyspaldingfuneralhome.com.

Interment will follow at noon on Friday at Rosehill Cemetery, 5800 North Ravenswood Avenue in Chicago.

Daube had been a fixture in the Big & Tall and men’s apparel markets for nearly 50 years, and his passing came as a shock to many not only because of his long, enduring presence in the marketplace, but also because of his youthful, athletic appearance.

Bruce Schedler, managing director of sales and marketing for the Chicago Collective, who worked with Daube to bring his Big & Tall markets to Chicago’s Merchandise Mart beginning in 2003, described him as “a good businessman, a leader and certainly a major force in the Big & Tall segment of the industry…. He was always a true gentleman and he had such an easygoing, professional manner about him. Paul truly cared about the people he did business with and he cared a great deal about all of the members of the BATA [Big and Tall Associates] group and he always had their best interests in mind. We will certainly miss him and his presence at the shows especially.”

Daube worked together with his wife Shirlee for many years and with their family shared an enduring interest in issues such as conservation and the environment.

In addition to his widow, he is survived by two sons, Jeffrey and Scott; a daughter, Carole; two daughters-in-law, Lorrie and Lynn; four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that memorial contributions be made to the Wilderness Society, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Friends of the Earth or the Ocean Conservancy.