|
Dom Rossi
Dom Rossi: Military Veteran, Sailor, Recovering Ad Exec, and Wannabe Golfer
Dom was a Brooklyn boy until age 14, when, in 1955, his family moved out to Babylon, Long Island. His father was a family doctor, and the team physician for the Brooklyn Dodgers until their move to LA in 1958, and many of his earliest memories involved Ebbets Field and his beloved Bums!
He graduated from Chaminade High School in 1958 and earned a B.A. in Economics from Boston College in 1962. With a low draft number, Dom chose to apply to the Navy’s Officer Candidate School. Commissioned as an Ensign, he spent three years aboard the destroyer USS Stribling, operating in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean, Middle East, and the Indian Ocean. By age 25, he had qualified as an ‘officer of the deck,’ and while underway was charged with the safe passage of a 100-meter floating weapon, and the safety of a crew of 200 men. Though he loved the challenge, he declined a PT boat command and returned to New York in 1967.
After a short time at Beechnut/Life Savers, Dom joined N.W. Ayer, one of the largest independent ad agencies at the time, where he spent 27 years (1969–1996), rose to president of the firm’s largest office in New York, and became vice-chairman of the board. The New York office created some of the most iconic ad campaigns of its time, including work for the US Army, AT&T, DeBeers Diamonds, Folgers Coffee, General Motors, and others.
In 1997, he launched his own firm, and three years later joined his client Reader’s Digest as group publisher. After retiring from Reader’s Digest in 2006, he partnered with branding icon Alan Siegel for multiple years, doing branding work for purpose-driven organizations and non-profits.
A love of sailing brought Dom to Westport, where he met his wife, Val, a fellow sailor. They married, and in 1980, Dom moved to Westport. Two daughters, Sara and Kate, soon followed. Dom also had a son, Matt, from a first marriage, and collectively, they all shared a love for the outdoors, for boating, and for skiing. Now retired, he enjoys golf, woodworking, and looks forward to friendships and activities with the Y’s Men. Click the link for the full version of Hayes’s bio of Dom Rossi.
| 
