“The Rose Man.” Perhaps Lee Nixon’s affectionate, patron-given name best describes him. An entrepreneur, humanitarian and icon, he came to be known and loved in St. Louis as the ubiquitous Rose Man.
When a gunman ejected from a Washington Park, Illinois club late Sunday night randomly fired shots at the establishment, inadvertently killing The Rose Man, disbelief, anger, grief and, finally, rosy reflections took root on both sides of the river.
Phone calls, text messages, emails, letters, internet postings, myspace.com bulletins – no one in Black St. Louis could go anywhere without someone expressing outrage and sadness at the loss of the beloved Rose Man.
A vigil has been set for 6 p.m. today (Thursday) at The Rose Man’s storefront, 5010 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. at Kingshighway.
Drexel Stith, owner of The Loft, is presenting “A Tribute to The Rose Man” at 8 p.m. Sunday, June 29 at The Loft, 3112 Olive St. All proceeds from the event go to the family of The Rose Man.
Stith remembers The Rose Man as one of the most innocent and outstanding people he had ever met.
“That took the life out of the whole city,” Stith said about the murder. “I hope it doesn’t become one of those crimes that doesn’t get solved.”
Stith said The Rose Man was in the house every time The Loft was open.
Eric Galloway, a longtime club owner, said he was speechless upon hearing news of the murder. He said he had known The Rose Man to come to his establishments for more than 25 years.
I, too, was blown away. As a nightlife reporter and photojournalist for the past eight years, I often saw The Rose Man around town.
I felt the need to introduce myself to him, because he went everywhere I went (and then some).
“He didn’t just go to the fancy places. He went to hole-in-the-wall lounges and bars – everywhere,” said Mohammad Witherspoon, producer of the monthly Eye Candy Parties.
“Like everyone he met, he made such a good impression on me with his smile, work ethic and professionalism – down to his trademarked red suit and hat, an appropriate uniform for selling roses and teddy bears.”
As a nightlife journalist, there are certain people you come to know and expect on the scene – bouncers, bartenders, restroom attendants, DJs, club owners and gatekeepers. And The Rose Man.
But The Rose Man was more of a local celebrity than other club scene fixtures.
As I did with most celebrities, I took a photograph of The Rose Man for publication. He then offered me a rose to give to someone, but I declined, knowing he would probably give it to someone else anyway.
“He gave away more roses than he sold,” said his sister, Gloria Nixon-Pone, one of four living siblings of The Rose Man. Four other siblings preceded him in death.
His sister said The Rose Man wanted to give roses away because of the joy it brought to people. In fact, he had talked to her about starting a foundation whereby he could give even more roses away.
“He said it was a shame that he had to charge,” his sister said.
“Everything he did was about love – even his poetry,” she said. “No matter what people did to him, he would find himself loving them.”
‘Internal and outer joy’
Their mother taught them to love people, Nixon-Pone said, and they never knew how to fight growing up.
The Rose Man was born December 19, 1943 in Marianna, Arkansas. He was 64 at the time of his death. He had been living with his longtime companion Dora Anderson on Wells in North St. Louis.
He fought in the Vietnam War and lived in Chicago following the war. He worked for U.S. Steel, but his sister said selling roses (and spreading joy) was his calling.
“He had internal joy and outer joy – that’s why you never saw him frowning, and he wanted to make other people smile,” she said.
“No matter what he was confronted with, he still had joy – even when he got shot in the head with an AK 47, he still had laughter in his heart.”
Nixon-Pone said she often tried to get The Rose Man to move to New York, where she lives, because three people in his neighborhood had been shot. But he refused, saying, “I can’t leave – the people here love me, and I love them.”
“I reached a point where I didn’t feel it was safe for him,” she said.
She said it’s unfortunate that her brother had to be killed in a city where so many people loved him.
Big Boy of Big Boy Security said he would always walk The Rose Man to his rose graphic truck, a favor he also did for others who may have had money on them.
He also said that it’s an occupational hazard that when a patron is thrown out of a club, he or she may retaliate.
Illinois State Police said they still haven’t made an arrest for the murder, but do have leads and persons of interest and are actively working with other investigators, according to Capt. Mark Bramlett, zone commander of the Illinois State Police in Collinsville.
Toya Batchman, who is spearheading the vigil for The Rose Man on Thursday, said she saw him everywhere.
“I didn’t know him personally, but he was an icon and one of St. Louis’ finest, and it hit home,” Batchman said, adding that any time he showed up anywhere, it validated the party.
She remembered him giving her a rose one night she was feeling down.
“Too many innocent lives are taken – we need to march every week and politicians need to step up to the plate to stop this killing,” she said.
She also noted that one of the signs on The Rose Man’s storefront reads, “My vision for the year 2000 and beyond: we must stop the violence and support each other.”
Arrangements for Lee “The Rose Man” Nixon: Wake from 4-7 p.m., Friday, June 27 at Austin Layne Renaissance, 7302 West Florissant. Funeral services will be held at 9 a.m., Saturday, June 28 at Friendly Temple, 5544 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr.
