Metro Detroit businesswoman, philanthropist and patron of the arts Gretchen Carhartt Valade died at age 97 on Dec. 30 at her home in Grosse Pointe Farms.
Granddaughter of Carhartt, Inc. founder Hamilton Carhartt, Valade served as President Emeritus of the workwear company, still family-owned in the Detroit area after 134 years.
She was also known among the regional arts community and beyond as “the angel of jazz” for her enduring contributions to Detroit’s arts and cultural scene, as well as the global jazz community. At age 74, she founded the jazz label Mack Avenue Records, which has subsequently won 11 Grammy Awards and more than 50 nominations. At age 82, she opened the Dirty Dog Jazz Café, an award-winning jazz club and dinner in Grosse Pointe Farms.
“We’ve lost an angel and the city’s greatest jazz champion,” said Rochelle Riley, director of arts and culture for the city of Detroit. “No one has worked harder or more elegantly to ensure that Detroit remains a global jazz capital.”
A lifelong resident of Grosse Pointe Farms, Valade was born on August 27, 1925 and shared the same birth date as her grandfather, Hamilton, whom she called “Big Dad”. Entrepreneur Hamilton founded Carhartt, Inc. in Detroit in 1889, and the company remains headquartered in Michigan, headquartered in Dearborn. Valade’s parents were Gretchen S. Stearns and Wylie Carhartt, himself president of Carhartt from 1937 to 1957.
“I was a Carhartt and this is what I was supposed to do,” Valade once said of joining the company at a young age, according to a Carhartt press release. “My duty as a family member was to contribute to the family business.”
She married Grosse Pointe native Robert C. Valade in 1948; he would end up serving as president of Carhartt for four decades as they raised three children. Gretchen Valade has remained an active participant and advisor in the business, serving on the board of directors since 1958. Upon her husband’s death in 1998, she assumed the role of chairman of the board. Her son, Mark, currently serves as the company’s president and CEO.
“My grandfather would have been very proud that the company lasted more than a century – through good times and bad,” Valade once said. “He would have loved it.”
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Carhartt, Inc. announced Valade’s death on Tuesday, saying, “It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of Gretchen C. Valade. As President Emeritus of Carhartt and granddaughter of Carhartt founder Hamilton Carhartt, she was an innovator, philanthropist, pioneer and visionary. Known by many as the ‘Angel of Jazz’, she was a fixture on the Metro Detroit business scene, the jazz community and, of course, Carhartt.
“Gretchen will be remembered for positively impacting countless people by establishing an arts foundation to keep the annual Detroit jazz festival the largest free festival of its kind in North America. Her legacy will live on through Carhartt, the Detroit Jazz Festival and her many philanthropic endeavors.”
In late 2022, Wayne State University’s iconic Hilberry Theater building closed to be transformed into the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center, a world-class performance venue. Valade made donations to jazz studies and performances at Wayne State totaling $9.5 million.
“We are all very grateful to Gretchen Valade for her enormous generosity,” said Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson. “Gretchen’s donations have expanded Wayne State’s commitment to excellence in the arts and humanities. She will be greatly missed, but her commitment to jazz lives on at Wayne State through the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center.”
In 2005, when the Detroit Jazz Festival lost its main sponsor, Valade established a foundation to ensure the festival remained free for attendees.
“Because of her singular commitment to jazz, Gretchen has been dubbed the ‘Angel of Jazz’ by the global jazz community,” said Professor Chris Collins, inaugural Gretchen Valade President in Jazz at Wayne State and artistic director of the Detroit Jazz Festival. “His passion, commitment and vision was a legacy in itself.”
The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation itself also released a statement expressing gratitude and regret:
“With a very heavy heart, we are saddened to announce the passing of our jazz angel, Gretchen C. Valade. We join the world in mourning his death and celebrate his lifelong contributions to the Detroit community, specifically his unwavering commitment to propagating Detroit’s jazz legacy and preserving the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation and the Detroit Jazz Festival , the biggest jazz festival in the world. free jazz festival.
“We will continue to honor Gretchen’s vision and legacy through our mission of jazz for all in Detroit and around the world.”
Valade died peacefully and surrounded by family, according to Carhartt’s press release.
She was passed away by her son Christopher and is survived by her daughter, Gretchen Garth (Stix), her son, Mark Valade (Molly), and her six grandchildren: Byron, Catherine, Damon, Kyle, Gretchen Rose and Cameron, as well as her nine great-grandchildren. . Private services will be performed.
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