Gene McCaffery, a colorful executive who helped turn around ValueVision Media in the late 1990s, died unexpectedly last week after becoming suddenly ill. He was 62.

From 1998 through 2003, McCaffery served as chairman and chief executive of Eden Prairie-based ValueVision and was instrumental in rebranding the company's TV shopping channel and website as ShopNBC.

When McCaffery took over the fledgling company, its stock was flagging and a widely touted merger with a Philadelphia firm had fizzled. Some questioned whether ValueVision would survive.

The former Montgomery Ward executive sold off money-losing assets, fired executives, settled nagging litigation and -- most importantly -- raised $220 million from investors NBC and GE Equity.

The company's stock soared as a result, making it one of the top performers among Minnesota publicly held companies at the time.

"Gene was bigger than life," said Cary Deacon, a former ValueVision executive who is now CEO of New Hope-based Navarre Corp. "He filled all the empty spaces in people and places."

Deacon called his friend "strong, compassionate, a patriot and a generous and loving" husband and father.

Never one to pull punches, the Bronx-born McCaffery liked sparring with reporters and telling colorful tales. When asked how ValueVision executives came up with ideas for home-shopping network "shows," McCaffery joked, "We lay on water beds and stare at the ceiling. We're the water-bed brigade!"

In truth, his career in retail occurred largely by happenstance. While attending Hofstra University, he stocked shelves at S. Klein, a New York discount department store that is now defunct.

He was drafted into the Army in 1968 and spent much of his tour in combat, commanding an infantry platoon and rifle company in Vietnam. He was discharged in 1971 as a first lieutenant, and remained passionately committed to military causes and charities throughout his life. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

McCaffery said the skills he gained in the military helped hone his leadership style. "I learned that you can't just tell people what to do," he said in a 1999 interview with the Star Tribune. "You have to get them to believe in what you're doing."

When asked then if he ever envisioned heading a company with a $1 billion market capitalization, given his hardscrabble childhood, McCaffery replied, "Are you on drugs?"

After he left ValueVision, he went on to serve on several retail, restaurant and technology company boards, and was an adviser to a London-based investment firm. He maintained homes in Minnetrista, Chicago and Malibu, Calif.

McCaffery is survived by his wife, Rebecca, and her three children. Services will be held in Chicago and Minnesota. More details can be found at www.startribune.com/a117.

Janet Moore • 612-673-7752