Winthrop Paul Rockefeller

Winthrop Paul "Win" Rockefeller (September 17, 1948 – July 16, 2006) was a Republican politician who served as the 13th Lieutenant Governor of the US state of Arkansas from 1996 until his death in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2006. He was also a member of the Rockefeller family.

Early life and parents

Winthrop Paul Rockefeller was born on September 17, 1948 in New York City. He was the only child of Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller (1912—1973) and actress Jievute "Bobo" Paulekiute (1916—2008). His parents separated in 1950 and divorced four years later. His maternal grandparents were Lithuanian.^[1]

Rockefeller grew up in both the United States and in Europe and was educated at schools in New York, England and in Switzerland. He graduated from Texas Christian University with a degree in Ranch Management.

Political career

Rockefeller served from 1981 to 1995 on the Arkansas State Police Commission. In 1991, he was appointed by President George H. W. Bush to serve on the President’s Council on Rural America and was elected chairman. Rockefeller also was a President of the Quapaw Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and served on the Boy Scouts National Board of Directors.

He was elected Lieutenant Governor in a November 1996 Special Election triggered by the resignation of Governor Jim Guy Tucker and the promotion of then-Lieutenant Governor Mike Huckabee. Rockefeller was subsequently re-elected in 1998 to a full four-year term, receiving 67 percent of the vote. Rockefeller was elected once again in 2002 with 60 percent of the vote.

In 1997 he became a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.

According to his website: "As Lieutenant Governor he focused on economic development, education and literacy. As Acting Governor on September 11, 2001, the day terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and The Pentagon, he resisted calls to declare a State of Emergency and instead urged Arkansans to remain calm and to donate blood. He sponsored Project ChildSafe, a national firearms safety program that has distributed hundreds of thousands of free trigger locks in Arkansas, and he served as honorary chairman of the Arkansas Literary Festival. In 1997, Rockefeller created Books in the Attic, a program using existing resources, Boy Scouts, and volunteers to ensure access to reading opportunities for all children. In 2004, he served as chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas."^[2]

In 2007, with permission from the Rockefeller family, the Arkansas Chapter of Young Republicans named their "Young Republican of the Year Award" after Win Rockefeller. The inaugural winner was Boyce Hamlet from Warren, Arkansas.

Marriages

On March 22, 1971, Rockefeller married Deborah Cluett Sage of New York, the eldest daughter of Louis Davidson Sage and Constance Cluett Ward. The couple met while both were studying in Oxford, England. The wedding took place in Colonial Willamsburg, Virginia at Bruton Parish Church. Deborah's sisters Marion Ticknor Sage, Martha Davidson Sage, and Christina Sage were the bridesmaids and flower girl. Richard Scott Dentel of Yardley, PA was the best man. Win's parents Winthrop and Bobo and Deborah's parents attended the wedding together with other members of both families. The couple had three children:

• Andrea Davidson Rockefeller (b. July 31, 1972)
• Katherine Cluett Rockefeller (b. February 7, 1974)
• Winthrop Paul Rockefeller Jr. (b. July 10, 1976)

The couple divorced on January 11, 1979. On June 4, 1983, he married Lisenne Dudderar, an administrative assistant with the Arkansas Nature Conservancy. They had four sons:

• William Gordon Rockefeller
• Colin Kendrick Rockefeller (born c. 1990)
• John Alexander Camp Rockefeller
• Louis Henry Rockefeller^[3][4]

They also adopted a daughter, Grace, in Hong Kong. Win and Lisenne founded a school for children with learning disabilities in Little Rock, now known as the Academy at Riverdale.

Wealth

Rockefeller served as chief executive of Winrock Farms, Inc., which had been set up by his father, and had interests in various small businesses around the state: in retailing, automobiles, farming, and the resort industry. He was an active member of the National Federation of Independent Business. Rockefeller was ranked # 283 on the Forbes magazine list of the nation's wealthiest people in 2005, with a fortune the magazine estimated at $1.2 billion. As lieutenant governor, which was a part-time job, he forwarded his $34,673 state salary to charity.^[5]

Illness and death

Rockefeller had announced his candidacy for governor and was expected to face the more conservative Asa Hutchinson in the Republican primary election in May 2006. On July 20, 2005, however, he bowed out of the race, citing myeloproliferative disease, a blood disorder that can develop into leukemia if left untreated. In October 2005 and March 2006, Rockefeller underwent unsuccessful bone marrow transplants at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. On July 8, 2006, after the failure of his second bone marrow transplant, he returned to Little Rock and died July 16, 10:37 am, at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. On July 19, his body lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda, and the next day, a memorial service was held at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, where Rockefeller was a member. At the time of his death, he was survived by his mother, wife, children, and one granddaughter, Emma, through his daughter Katherine.

See also

• Rockefeller family
• Winthrop Rockefeller

References

External links

• "Arkansas Lt. Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller Dies at 57", New York Times, July 17, 2006
• "Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller Dies Peacefully", Todaysthv.com July 17, 2006.

Lieutenant Governors of Arkansas
Parnell Cazort Wilson Cazort Bailey Shaver Gordon Britt Riley Purcell Bryant Tucker Huckabee Rockefeller Halter Darr Griffin