Granville Semmes Obit

Granville Semmes Obituary

 

He was not on the list.

SEMMES Granville Martin Semmes II Advertising Executive 1-800 Flowers Founder Granville Martin Semmes II passed away after a brief illness on Friday, March 30, 2012 at Touro Infirmary. He was 84. Semmes, an avid tennis player, was born in Memphis, Tennessee and was a graduate of Duke University. Upon graduation, Semmes joined the US Navy and later moved to New Orleans where he worked as a national, award-winning account executive at WWL-TV for over thirty years. Semmes studied gemology and achieved the rating of "Fellow" of the Gemological Institute of Great Britain, also becoming both a gem appraiser and master gem cutter. Two jewelry stores, Chatelaine Fine Gems, were opened by Semmes and operated in French Quarter hotels for fifteen years. Semmes was the founder of 1-800-Flowers, Inc., which in the 1980's operated as one of the country's earliest, pre-internet businesses modeled upon combining the power of television advertising, the credit card and a telephone number that spelled a word. The combination of the three mediums, at the time, represented a breakthrough in commercialtelecommunications, marketing and sales. 1-800-Flowers, Inc. has gone on to become 1-800-Flowers.com. As a preservationist pioneer, Semmes and his family developed an Irish Channel compound of clustered pre-civil war houses in the 1970's, at a time when urban compound residential living was not yet in vogue. His wife, Jane, and family still live at the site. Semmes is survived by his wife of 60 years, Jane Pfister Semmes; and his eight children: Granville Martin Semmes III (Billie), Donna Semmes Roth (Ernst), Gilmore Michael Semmes (Joan), Thomas Jenkins Semmes, George Wingfield Semmes, Michael John Semmes (Yvette), Paul Florenz Semmes (Valerie), and Jane Semmes Litwinowicz (John). He is also survived by eighteen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Semmes is pre-deceased by two brothers: Vice Admiral Benedict Joseph Semmes and Captain James Lardner Semmes, and a sister, Gilmore Semmes Donnolly of Memphis. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a Funeral Mass at St. Henry's Church, located at 812 General Pershing Street in New Orleans on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, Gran's birthday, at 11:00 a.m. Visitation from 10:00 a.m. to service time. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to The Friends of the New Orleans Public Library, 219 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112.