Former staff, W.Va. officials pay tribute to the legacy of former governor, senator Jay Rockefeller
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CHARLESTON – For many, the Rockefeller name is associated with oil and money. But in West Virginia, it’s associated with a man who came to a state he didn’t know and dedicated his life to serving as a volunteer, educator, secretary of state, governor, and finally as a U.S. Senator.
The Washington Post reported John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV, 89, died at his Washington, D.C., home Friday. A cause of death was not provided. He is survived by his wife Sharon Percy Rockefeller, four children, and several grandchildren.
"West Virginia has lost a giant, and our nation has lost a remarkable public servant," said Del. Mike Pushkin, chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party, in a statement. "Jay Rockefeller was born into one of the wealthiest and most privileged families in American history. He could have spent his entire life enjoying every comfort and opportunity that wealth could provide. Instead, he chose a different path.”
His namesake John D. Rockefeller, founded the Standard Oil Company in 1882. The company cornered the market on oil and was broken up into other companies, such as Exxon, Chevron, and BP. Today, John D. Rockefeller’s descendants are worth billions of dollars.
And in the 1960s, the Rockefeller family was known for its oil wealth, banking, philanthropy, and Republican politics. But after spending several years abroad at International Christian University in Tokyo and graduating from Harvard University, Jay heeded the call of President John F. Kennedy and entered the Peace Corps.
His public service continued under President Lyndon Johnson, arriving at Emmons in Kanawha County in 1964 through the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program as a social worker. Former Democratic governor and now-retired U.S. senator Joe Manchin said he remembered reading in the news about Jay coming to the Mountain State.
“What a big Republican family they were, and here’s Jay Rockefeller coming to West Virginia as a Democrat. And we were all excited,” Manchin said by phone Friday. “I said, my goodness, he can go anywhere in the world he wants to be ... and he’s picking West Virginia. It made me feel special.”
Being an outsider with a last name that carried its own baggage, Rockefeller overcame perceptions and won election to the House of Delegates in 1966. A year later, he married Sharon, the daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Charles Percy of Illinois. Rockefeller was elected as secretary of state in 1968 and later challenged the late Republican governor Arch Moore in 1972, losing that election.
“When he lost, everyone said he’ll just go home, he’ll go back. He didn’t,” Manchin said. “His family was committed to West Virginia. He stayed. Then we knew he was a real West Virginian. That’s what I heard people say all the time, and I always felt that.”
More than 40 years later, Arch Moore’s daughter, Shelley Moore Capito, would succeed Rockefeller when he retired from the U.S. Senate in 2014. Despite being from different parties, Capito said her friendship with Rockefeller transcended politics.
"Deeply saddened by the passing of former Senator and Governor Jay Rockefeller,” said Capito, R-W.Va., in a statement Friday. “Jay dedicated his life to serving West Virginia and our nation, leaving a lasting legacy. He was always a true gentleman who treated me with respect, kindness, and encouragement ... Above all, Jay loved his family. Charlie and I are keeping Sharon, their children and grandchildren, and the entire Rockefeller family in our prayers."
After a brief stint as president of West Virginia Wesleyan College, Rockefeller was elected governor in 1977, serving two four-year terms. Bob Wise, a former Democratic governor and congressman, first encountered Rockefeller as a lawyer working on flood relief in Southern West Virginia.
“He was confronted with just horrific floods in Southern West Virginia. I just remember the efforts that he spent ... in the terms of the recovery,” Wise said by phone Friday. “We went to him and presented him and his staff with some ways to get land for housing that was out of the floodplain and he looked at it, he reviewed it and jumped into it. He did what he needed to do. His receptivity to looking outside the box of traditional flood recovery impressed me.”
In 1984, Rockefeller succeeded the retiring U.S. Sen. Jennings Randolph, joining the late Robert C. Byrd as one of West Virginia’s two senators. As a senator, Rockefeller chaired the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Rockefeller was a co-author of the legislation creating the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), legislation expanding healthcare services for veterans, and the Affordable Care Act. He also introduced legislation and advocated for improvements for black lung care for coal miners. The Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute at West Virginia University, which conducts research on Alzheimer’s disease and other memory diseases, is named for Rockefeller’s mother and was funded by his family.
“Senator Rockefeller understood that access to quality, affordable health care is fundamental to the strength and well-being of our families and communities,” said Ellen Allen, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, in a statement Friday. “He devoted much of his life to making sure that children, working families, seniors, and some of our most vulnerable neighbors were not left behind.”
During his nearly 30 years in the Senate, Rockefeller mentored many staff members who continue his legacy of public service in West Virginia. Rochelle “Rocky” Schrecongost Goodwin, director of strategic initiatives at the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, remembered Rockefeller as “warm and funny and thoughtful.
“It has been a true honor to be able to work with and know Senator Rockefeller,” said Goodwin, who served as state director for Rockefeller’s Senate office. “He could have dedicated his life to anything, but he was enormously dedicated to public service. And he would often talk about how our moral compasses were set for something and his moral compass was set for taking care of people, through policy, forged by listening and really understanding the people he served.”
“Jay Rockefeller didn't simply come to West Virginia. He made a life here, beginning as a VISTA volunteer and building a lifetime of service that ultimately took him to the United States Senate. He listened intently to people. He had a huge heart, and he turned that compassion into action,” said Higher Education Policy Commission Communications Director Jessica Tice, who served as a spokesperson for Sen. Rockefeller. “From children's health insurance to black lung benefits for coal miners, he fought for real people. He understood that public service meant making someone's life better, and he never lost sight of the people who needed him.”
Rich Lindsay, a former Democratic state senator and current judge in the 8th Judicial Circuit in Kanawha County, worked as a staff assistant and intern for Rockefeller for three years in the late 2000s. Speaking by phone Friday, Lindsay said Rockefeller was able to work across party lines, including with former Republican Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts of Kansas.
“He was the personification of a good, decent public servant who always focused on improving the lives of the people he represented. He kept his eye and kept his heart here in West Virginia focused on the lives of all West Virginians,” Lindsay said. “He would work with Republicans. He would work with Democrats. Among the many things I did when I was there was I had the opportunity to drive Senator Rockefeller when he needed a driver. I never heard him laugh as much as he did when he was talking to Roberts about this, that or the other.”
Rockefeller also served as a mentor to Manchin, who served the remainder of Byrd’s unexpired term after Byrd’s death in 2010 and was elected to his first full six-year term in the Senate in 2012.
“When I was transitioning into the Senate, I couldn’t have had a better mentor,” Manchin said. “When I ran for re-election in 2012 ... he was right there with me. He helped me all the way through, had fundraisers for me, and did everything he could to support me. I was forever grateful for that.”
Wise, who later served with Rockefeller when he was West Virginia’s Democratic congressman for the 2nd District, said he would often travel back to West Virginia with Rockefeller by plane on weekends.
“What I learned about Senator Rockefeller was that you could make conversation for the first 10 minutes, but he really wanted that time to study. And he’d get on that plane with a very thick binder,” Wise said. “He would just sit there and study relentlessly all the way until we landed, and then he’d get in his car and head off. Whatever he was working on, he studied intently. It was not just a case of handing it off to a staff person.”
Wise said Rockefeller will always be remembered for his efforts to improve economic development in West Virginia and diversify the state’s coal-based economy, including using his Japanese connections to bring Toyota to West Virginia. Today, Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia employs more than 2,000 workers at its Buffalo plant, producing more than 1 million engines, transmissions and hybrid transaxles a year. Toyota’s total investment in West Virginia is more than $3 billion.
“it was evident from the first moments that he was in office that what he did was introduce West Virginia to the world, and vice versa, using his incredible experience, his knowledge, his contacts across the world, and his relationships in Japan,” Wise said. “There are a lot of people working in jobs today, good paying jobs in West Virginia, because of Senator Rockefeller.”
Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued a proclamation Friday ordering all U.S. and state flags to half-staff through Friday, Nov. 13, in honor of Rockefeller. In a separate statement. The governor and First Lady Denise Morrisey expressed their condolences to Rockefeller’s family.
“From his early work in some of our state’s most disadvantaged communities to his efforts to strengthen healthcare, protect coal miners and their families, and support our veterans, Senator Rockefeller demonstrated a deep commitment to the people of West Virginia,” Morrisey said. “His work helped shape our state and left a lasting mark on the lives of generations of West Virginians. His decades of service deserve our respect and gratitude, and his legacy will remain an important part of West Virginia’s history.”
West Virginia’s remaining living governors all said that Rockefeller would be remembered for giving more than seven decades of service to West Virginia, leaving a lasting mark that will be felt for generations to come.
“Senator Jay Rockefeller's passing is sad news to all of West Virginia,” said former governor and U.S. Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., in a social media post Friday. “His years of dedicated service as Governor and Senator truly reflect the love he had for his great state. Senator Rockefeller worked hard for West Virginians and made a difference in countless lives.”
“The legacy of Jay Rockefeller, first of all, choosing West Virginia. But most importantly, staying in West Virginia, being in West Virginia, and helping us every step of the way, he was well thought of and well respected in Congress,” Manchin said. “It’s a legacy of service that he’s left and it’s a legacy we all should be very proud of. What a gift to our state.”
“He’s a lion for West Virginia. There’s no doubt about it,” Wise said. “His legacy is always going to be there. It’s going to be missed. But I hope that he does leave the legacy too of a determined legislator and someone who could have spent his life in a lot of different ways and chose to do it in a way of service to others ... and accomplished much.”