James Stillman Rockefeller dies at 102
History Writer
great-grandfather has passed away. My condolences to Mr.
Rockefeller's family. This is from a Connecticut newspaper:
James Stillman Rockefeller dies at 102
By Sabrina Banes
Staff Correspondent
August 11, 2004
James Stillman Rockefeller, 102, the nation's oldest Olympic gold
medalist and former president of what became Citigroup, died yesterday
at his Greenwich home.
He died of natural causes, his family said.
Mr. Rockefeller attended Yale University, where he rowed for all four
years of his college career. He became team captain in his senior year
and led his team in beating Harvard University's crew, which was then
considered the best in the nation. Yale's victory over Harvard at
their annual regatta earned Mr. Rockefeller's crew the right to
compete in the Olympics as the United States team.
Mr. Rockefeller, sitting stroke, rowed to victory with his team at the
1924 Olympics in Paris. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Olympic Committee
said records show Rockefeller was the oldest U.S. medal winner, The
Associated Press reported.
After Mr. Rockefeller graduated from Yale, he went to work at Brown
Brothers Harriman and Company in New York City.
Mr. Rockefeller left Brown Brothers in 1930 and began working in the
family business at National City Bank, which would eventually become
the global conglomerate known as Citigroup.
Mr. Rockefeller became president of the company in 1952. In 1959 he
became chairman. He retired in 1967, but remained on the company's
board of directors into the 1970s.
"His passing was the passing of an American icon," said Joseph Verner
Reed, under-secretary general of the United Nations and a family
friend of Mr. Rockefeller's. "They don't make the mold of Stillman
Rockefeller any more. He was elegant, an aristocrat, and a great
American."
Reed, who was employed at a competing bank, Chase Manhattan, when he
was younger, said he always respected Mr. Rockefeller's mind for
business.
"He was a great businessman who led Citibank with energy and force and
vision," he said. "I always admired his vision for the overseas
market. It was his vision that made Citibank a global enterprise."
In 1941, Mr. Rockefeller left National City Bank to serve as an
officer in the U.S. Army. He was a lieutenant colonel on the staff of
the Airborne Command Control, which controlled the 82nd Airborne
Division at Fort Bragg and the 101st Airborne Division in Fort Brag at
Camp Mackall, North Carolina. After he was honorably discharged in
1945, Mr. Rockefeller returned to his job at National City Bank.
Mr. Rockefeller sat on several boards of directors during his
lifetime. He was chairman of the board of the former Pan American
Airlines. He served on the board of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer
Center from 1954 until his death, and on the board of the American
Museum of Natural History from 1959 until his death.
Mr. Rockefeller funded environmental causes, including the Yale School
of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the North Carolina chapter
of The Nature Conservancy. He donated an 800-acre farm near
Fayetteville, N.C., to the conservancy.
Born June 8, 1902, in Greenwich, Mr. Rockefeller was a son of the late
William G. and Elsie S. Stillman Rockefeller. He was the great-nephew
of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller and grandson of National
City Bank of New York founder James Stillman.
In addition to Yale, Mr. Rockefeller attended Taft School and
Brunswick Lower School, of which he was the oldest living alumnus.
He was a member of the Field Club of Greenwich and Round Hill Club;
the Metropolitan Club of Washington, D.C.; the Downtown Association,
the University Club, the Union League Club, and the New York City Club
in New York City; and Clove Valley Rod and Gun Club in Union Vale,
N.Y.
In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his wife, Nancy S.
Carnegie Rockefeller, granddaughter of Andrew Carnegie, in 1994; three
brothers, William Rockefeller, Godfrey Rockefeller and John Sterling
Rockefeller; and one sister, Elmira Scott.
Mr. Rockefeller is survived by two daughters, Nancy Rockefeller Copp
of Germantown, Tenn., and Georgia Rockefeller of New York City; two
sons, James Stillman Rockefeller Jr. of Camden, Maine, and Andrew C.
Rockefeller of Greenwich; 14 grandchildren; 37 great-grandchildren;
and one great-great-granddaughter.
A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Sept. 18 at Christ Church Greenwich,
254 E. Putnam Ave., Greenwich.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The
Merry-Go-Round Mews, 1/2 Bolling Place, Greenwich, CT 06830; or to
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, P.O. Box 27106, New York, N.Y.
10087-7106.
Fred D. Knapp & Son funeral home, 267 Greenwich Ave., Greenwich, is
handling arrangements.
Copyright © 2004, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
D. Spencer Hines
Thanks for posting this ---- a first-rate obituary.
There is a very large photograph of that 1924 Olympic Gold Medal crew,
with James Stillman Rockefeller sitting stroke, in Yale's Payne Whitney
Gymnasium.
DSH
"History Writer" <hbv...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:3943286.04081...@posting.google.com...
