C. Rose Harper, First Female DMA Chair, Dies

C. Rose Harper, who in 1982 became the first woman to chair the Direct Marketing Association, died on Thursday, Feb. 4 at her home in Hartsdale, NY. She would have turned 91 on Feb. 8.

While the cause of her death was listed senile dementia and emphysema, according to her nephew, LDS Group Inc. co-CEO Richard Vergara, with the exception of some short-term memory loss she was fully lucid until just over a week before she died.

“Really, I think she just died from being 91,” Vergara told Direct Newsline.

Harper packed a lot of direct marketing involvement into her nearly 91 years. In addition to her stint as DMA chair, she was chairman and CEO of list brokerage firm The Kleid Company; author of the 1986 book “Mailing List Strategies: A Guide to Direct Mail Success”, and a member of the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation’s board of directors.

In 1985 she was part of the inaugural class of Direct Marketing Club of New York Silver Apple award winners. That same year, she was inaugurated into the Direct Marketing Association’s Hall of Fame. In 1991, she added List Leader of the Year to her collection of honors.

Harper would often tell the story of having overcome two seeming cultural handicaps as a businesswoman. Years ago, at a business luncheon, Harper was sitting with an associate who, after speaking with her for a while, remarked “You’re pretty smart for a woman – and you’re Italian, too!”

The perception that an Italian couldn’t make it in business without being connected to organized crime chafed Harper to no end, Vergara said.

Vergara remembered his aunt as being almost exclusively focused on her business activities. “No golf, no tennis,” he said. “She was proud of having done a lot of travel, but it was mostly business travel.”

Outside of her professional life, Harper was very active in her faith. She served on the board of John Cardinal O’Connor’s Committee of the Laity for many years, work which ultimately earned her an audience with Pope John Paul II when the pontiff was in New York City.

“That was a very big deal for her,” Vergara said. “Of all the things that happened to her, that might have been close to the best.”

What else was she proud of? “She thought she was the only person in America who had never been in a McDonalds,” Vergara said. “She lunched regularly at the Four Seasons.”

Harper’s given name was Carmela, a name she rarely used. “She was always aunt Rose, not aunt Carmela,” Vergara said. Vergara’s father – Harper’s brother – used to call her R.H., claiming the initials stood for “Royal Highness.”

Harper’s husband Rondel died in 1987. The couple did not have any children.

A wake for Harper will be held Monday, February 8, at the Bennett Funeral Home at 824 Scarsdale Avenue, Scarsdale, NY 10583-5320 (914) 725-1137. Funeral services will take place Tuesday, February 9 at 10 a.m. in St. Pious church in Scarsdale. Donations maybe made in Harper’s name to:

Hospice and Palliative Care of Westchester
311 North Street, Suite 204
White Plains, NY 10605
914-682-1484

http://www.hospiceofwestchester.com

Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Harper worked at Stevens Knox & Associates Inc., to MKTG Services to LDS. Harper worked only at Kleid Company.