Dean Michael Rossman

1958 - 2020

Dean Michael Rossman

Westbury - Dean Michael Rossman passed away peacefully at his Westbury, NY home on February 21, 2020 after a determined fight against cancer.

He was born on July 8th, 1958 in Bucyrus, Ohio. He was a 1976 Graduate of Colonel Crawford High School and the Ohio State University/Agricultural Technical Institute. From an early age, Dean's passion was growing and nurturing flowers, bushes and trees. If you could plant it, Dean found beauty in it. During his formal education, he studied landscape design and environmental conservation in England and Belgium. He began his horticultural career at the New York City Botanical Garden and soon after started Greene Street Gardens, serving Long Island and the surrounding area. His legacy and spirit live on in the beautiful flower gardens and landscapes he designed, always with a dedication to ecology and conservation in mind.

He is survived by his father, Burdett Rossman of Glendale, AZ, sisters Viki Miller (Roy) of Glendale, AZ, and Valarie Rossman (Michael Powell) of Phoenix, AZ, brother Eric (Gator) Rossman (Donna) of Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico and his partner Michael Williams of Westbury, NY. Dean was preceded in death by his mother, Yvonne (Bonnie) Rossman.

The amount of love, prayers and support Dean received from family, friends and clients was tremendous. Dean had energy and a true zest for life. More than one person has commented; Dean did not have a bucket list per se, more so, he lived his bucket list daily. Let him be an example for all of us.

A celebration of Dean's life is being planned and will be held at Old Westbury Gardens, Old Westbury, NY. A grove of trees will be planted in his memory. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, pancan.org or The Nature Conservancy, support.nature.org.