In Memoriam: John “Jack” Brohl

Chris Beytes

Jack Brohl, founder with his wife, Marie, of Brohl’s Greenhouses in Macomb, Michigan, passed away October 24. He was 81. His daughter-in-law, Karen Brohl, sent the news, saying she wanted to be sure his many industry friends heard the sad news.

Jack and Marie started their business in 1965, and today, all three sons work in the family grower/retail business, which is spread across 42 greenhouses. Brohl’s grows a wide range of crops, from spring through fall and poinsettias.

Karen says of her late father-in-law, “Jack will be missed by his family, of course, but there will be tears from the many fiercely loyal customers that he treated like royalty. His favorite thing was hauling customers around on his Gator, helping them pick out their plants. I have witnessed customers ask if we had a pop machine (which we did not yet have) and watch him go to the pole barn, pour them a glass of pop, then track them down to give it to them. That is the epitome of who he was.” GT