The penlights he handed out all over town said "Compliments of Melvin Gart."

But most just called him Uncle Melvin.

Mr. Gart, who turned 87 on St. Patrick's Day, died Thursday after an illness.

As the youngest brother of Gart Sports founder Nathan Gart, Mr. Gart joined the family retail business in 1946 after serving in World War II. He never completely put it behind him, even after the family sold in 1986.

"He'd meet people and even now he would say 'I'm Melvin Gart, you know, from the Gart Brothers store,'" said great-nephew John Gart.

Mr. Gart handled advertising for the growing retail business and introduced a Gart sporting goods catalog early on, said nephew Mickey Gart.

"He developed the catalog, which really became a national publication and moved the company to the next level," Mickey Gart said. "He worked endless hours, overseeing every word and every illustration himself."

After the family sold the business, Mr. Gart kept a hand in with great- nephews John, Ken and Tom Gart, who formed Specialty Sports LLC, a retail company that includes Bicycle Village and Colorado Ski & Golf stores.

"He came to our office every day, and he would still cut the newspaper ads out," John Gart said. "He would give Kenny our ads and our competitors' ads."

And each Labor Day weekend when he was in town, Mr. Gart would make it a point to drive by the Gart Sports Castle store on Broadway to see shoppers lined up waiting for the famous Sniagrab ski sale to start. Then he'd cruise past Colorado Ski & Golf's Ski Rex sale for a similar view.

If he wasn't in his native Denver that weekend, he'd likely be off traveling the globe.

Until recent years, Mr. Gart freely indulged a lifelong love of travel, seeing the world and trying all the fine food and wine it had to offer, John Gart said.

Sometimes family members would go along, feeling Uncle Melvin's generosity at every step, John Gart said.

"We said 'When you go on a trip with Uncle Melvin, you come back with more money than you went with.' "

He never forgot a birthday or special occasion and was a soft touch who never turned down requests for help, John Gart said.

He could be kind of tough to buy for, though, at least when it came to clothes. Mr. Gart wore a suit, with a white shirt and tie, every day except during summer's fiercest heat. His closet held 25 pairs of the exact same black wing-tips, John Gart said.

"If you bought him a golf shirt or a sweater, he'd never wear it - it was always the white shirt and the tie."

Illness slowed Mr. Gart in recent years, at least physically, his family said.

"He was in a lot of pain, but he always had a smile on his face. He was always interested in other people," Mickey Gart said.

And he was still handing out his trademark flashlights, in lieu of a business card.

"If you walked around Cherry Creek, you'd find hundreds of people he'd given those flashlights to," said Ken Gart.

Mr. Gart is survived by his wife, Elvira, and many nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. Services will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Temple Emanuel, 51 Grape St., Denver. Donations may be made to the Jerry Gart Assistance Fund at Craig Hospital, 3425 S. Clarkson St., Englewood, CO 80110.

forgrievej@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5191