Rockwell, James M.

Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, Signal Corps, 1951. Served as an officer in various positions in signal units. Was a staff officer in the War Plans Division of the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations, 1969-1970. Promoted to Major General, 1975. Became Deputy Director of the Defense Communications Agency, 1975. Served as Team Chief, Military Technical Advisory Team (MTAT) to Zaire, 1975-1976.

James Morton Rockwell (1863-1931) was a lumberman and partner in a family lumber business in Texas, Rockwell Brothers & Co. Rockwell also served as president of Waxahatchie Lumber Company. He began working for the M. T. Jones Lumber Company in Albany, Texas when he was 20 years old, and he soon became the manager of the yard. In 1893 he was appointed manager of all the M. T. Jones lumber yards, and in 1895 acquired the M. T. Jones yards located in West Texas and New Mexico on behalf of the company. When Jones died in 1898, Rockwell moved to Houston where he helped to manage the Jones estate. Rockwell also served as delegate to the 43rd Annual Convention of the Lumbermen's Association of Texas meeting in Waco (1929), and as American delegate to the 20th Annual Convention of the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World meeting in London, England (1924). He was married to Sarah Wade Richardson.

The Rockwell Fund was established as a charitable trust in 1931 via a portion of the income from the estate of James M. Rockwell as provided in his will, and was incorporated in Houston in 1949. A second foundation, the Rockwell Brothers Endowment, was incorporated in 1960 and later merged with the Rockwell Fund. Major contributions of the fund have been made to arts and culture, education, community improvement, health and human services, religion, and other charitable causes, with preference given to Houston-area organizations.

Sources : Rockwell Fund, Inc. A Brief History of Rockwell Fund, Inc. http://www.rockfund.org/about/index.shtml (accessed June 3, 2010).

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. Rockwell Fund, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/vrr3.html (accessed June 3, 2010).