An interview with Lucky Rosenbloom, son of Tiger Jack Rosenbloom, who passed away August 5th, 2001 of natural causes at the age of 94.
Rosenbloom and his wife operated a store in St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood for more than 50 years. It's the only remaining business in the Rondo neighborhood, which was largely replaced the freeway construction in the 1960s. In April, the City Council approved renaming a section of Dale Street "Mr. and Mrs. Tiger Jack Street."
SPEAKER 1: Friday night, last Friday night, my mom said, he's going to die on Mona's, the daughter's, birthday, which was yesterday, Sunday. He hung in there whole weekend, barely breathing. He hung in and he died yesterday, the same day that my sister, who died in a house fire, was born. That has to be the joy of the family. Because let me tell you, when my little sister died, I never forget, her hand raised up off her bed. And she said, mom, dad, God has my hand. He loves me, he's going to take me home. At that very moment, her hand went down, and she died.
And so for my dad to hang in there until the day of her birthday and for my mom to know that that is when it was going to happen, I think it's something very spiritual for the family, and it's very spiritual for my dad. I mean, it's a testimony, in a way, because my dad had that Bible in his hand almost every day. And he used her picture, my sister's picture, as a book marker. So I think it's a powerful statement. He was a very spiritual person, believed in God, very spiritual.
SPEAKER 2: How did your father get his nickname?
SPEAKER 1: My dad got his nickname from boxing. When he was boxing one day, someone, the opponent called him the N-word. And my dad decked him. And as he was getting up, he went around the referee and hit him again. And at that point, his trainer said, you're a real tiger in that ring. And he's had that name ever since, his days in prizefighting.
SPEAKER 2: What did he mean to the old Rondo neighborhood?
SPEAKER 1: I think he was the last icon, symbol of Rondo days. He was one of the first Black to own a business. And he was the only Black that survived the neighborhood being stripped away to put in the freeway, Interstate 94. He was the last of the businessmen.
His business, his little tiny store is the exact same store that he started in, 54 years ago, the same candy stand, the same shoeshine stand. That was the only real image that was left over, a structure that was left over from Rondo days that has not been torn down. And I believe that we as a family look forward to continuing my dad's legacy.
SPEAKER 2: Why did he stay so long in the same neighborhood?
SPEAKER 1: Well, my dad, when he first came here, that was his neighborhood. That is where, when he came up here on a freight train, when he hopped a freight train and came up here to Minnesota, that is where he started. He stayed on that corner. He has always said, for 54 years, he's always said that God gave him that corner. God wanted him to do something with that corner. And in fact, a couple of days before he even went into the hospital, he said, I've done what God wanted me to do. I've lived a happy life. I'm ready to go.
SPEAKER 2: How do you hope Minnesotans will remember your father?
SPEAKER 1: I believe that so many people know so many different dimensions of my dad. I mean, my dad was probably a person that God put four, five distinctive people into one person. But I believe that the connection is that everyone will believe my dad as a good person, and everyone will remember my dad as a good kind person that worked hard to support his family, did not give up, made no excuses, and did what God wanted him to do on that corner.
Digitization made possible by the State of Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, approved by voters in 2008.
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