Jack Flood

Jack Flood Jr., 82, of St. Petersburg, died July 28, 2025, at Menorah Manor. A native of Nebraska, he graduated from high school at 16, began working at 19, started a family and moved to Florida, where he became a fixture at his church and in the lives of countless friends and neighbors.

His first insurance job was with National Indemnity, a firm that had been acquired by Warren Buffett. He had meetings and lunches with the Oracle of Omaha, an auspicious start to his 57-year career. In St. Petersburg, he joined and help grow Dana Roehrig & Associates into a nationally known firm, and later founded his own underwriting company. Specializing in high-risk policies, he insured the orangutan from Any Which Way but Loose, Barnum & Bailey Circus, and The Doors’ notorious 1969 concert in Miami where Jim Morrison was arrested for indecency. He once walked into his office to find a client deceased with his boa constrictor wrapped around him and his secretary on a frantic call with 911.

Family was the centerpiece of his life. He met the former Elaine Stockert at a country bar in Omaha, where they were introduced by mutual friends. They married in 1964 and soon welcomed daughter Lisa and son Joseph. After the family settled for good in Florida, daughter Tara arrived in 1977.  He was easy-going, gentle, and understated. He told stories about his family being illegimate descendants of Jesse James, never making clear if the tales were true. He enjoyed simple pleasures: Nebraska football, James Bond movies, and bread pudding. He was always up for anything, which is how he once improbably ended up at an Iron Butterfly concert.

His dry sense of humor was with him to the end. At the assisted living facility where he lived the last few months, a nurse saw him dozing off and asked if he was reading the backs of his eyelids. He answered, “Yep, it’s a novel.”

He was raised Methodist but found his faith in Catholicism. He was a longtime member of Holy Family Catholic Church, where he joined the men’s club and served as a lector and Sunday school teacher when his children were young.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Viola and Jack Flood Sr.; siblings Janell (Flood) Baltz and Jerry Flood; and son Joseph, who died in 2019. He is survived by Elaine, his wife of 61 years, and their two daughters, Lisa Emerson of Blairsville, Ga., and Tara Yoder (Matthew Yoder) of St. Petersburg; and nine grandchildren: Cierra Flood, Taylor Flood, Seth Emerson, Lily Shaffer, Ella Yoder, Piper Flood, Harper Yoder, Trinity Flood, and Skylar Flood. 

Funeral mass will be held at Holy Family Catholic Church, 200 78th Ave NE St. Petersburg FL 33702, on August 8, 2025 at 4:30 pm.