Frederick Whitney Rockwood, 66, Batesville, Indiana, passed away peacefully at his home on March 3, 2014. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on December 18, 1947 to Lewis Frederick and Muriel Whitney Rockwood, both deceased.
In 1967, he served a mission to the Southern Far East Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hong Kong for two and one-half years. Upon his return he married Jolene Edmunds in the Salt Lake City Temple. He earned a B.A. from Stanford University in 1972 with honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society. In 1975, he earned a J. D. degree from the Harvard Law School.
After law school, he worked as a business consultant at the Boston Consulting Group and then at Bain and Co. In 1977 he accepted a position with Hillenbrand Industries and was the founder and first CEO of the Forethought Group which he grew into a successful company that was featured in many national publications. In 1999, Fred became President and CEO of Hillenbrand Industries. After his retirement from Hillenbrand in 2005, he worked as CEO of General Resonance for three years.
Fred served as chairman of the Indiana State 21st Century Schooling Committee, and for his four years of work on this committee, he was awarded the "Sagamore of the Wabash" Award by Governor Evan Bayh in 1991. He was also awarded the Kentucky Colonel title by the Governor of Kentucky in 1995.
Fred served on the Board of Directors of the Dan Beard Boy Scout Council in Cincinnati for many years, and became an avid proponent of the scouting program in the area. He was a respected expert on military history, and was frequently sought after for his knowledge of military medals all over the world. In 2008 and 2012, Fred served on Mitt Romney's presidential campaign committee in Cincinnati.
Fred was a true Renaissance man, with varied interests in many different fields of learning. He was an avid reader who always had a book in his hand and he had an extraordinary eclectic library, all of which he could instantly recall. He loved languages and spoke many of them fluently, including Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese) and German. He was a gifted public speaker, and a great scriptorian.
He loved and supported all forms of the arts, and with his family, regularly attended theatrical and musical productions. In his younger days he won many awards for his paintings and drawings. He loved to travel and whenever possible he exposed his family to other cultures around the world.
Fred loved to do genealogical and family history research and spent years tracing family lines, acquiring thousands of names and genealogical data. He was an impeccable researcher and left behind a substantial family history collection as a legacy for his descendants.
Fred was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and held many church leadership positions throughout his life, including branch president, Bishop, a counselor in branch, ward and stake Presidencies, a Seminary and Sunday School teacher, Young Men's president, Stake High Councilor, Family History Center Director, LDS Temple Sealer, Ward mission leader, numerous Priesthood Quorum leadership positions, and most recently as Stake President of the Cincinnati Ohio Stake.
His loss is felt deeply by his family. Fred was a devoted husband and father of his children and grandchildren and will be remembered lovingly for his many kindnesses, his wonderful sense of humor, his extraordinary intelligence, his deep spirituality, his great wisdom and his profound testimony of and devout love for his Savior Jesus Christ.
He is survived by his wife, Jolene; six sons and daughters including Justin (Barbara) Rockwood of Bothell Washington; Melissa (Derek) Adams of Highland, Utah; Jennifer (Kurt) Knight, of Belmont Massachusetts; Katie (Jarom) Sidwell of Pleasant Grove, Utah; Elizabeth (Armando) Tirado of Woburn, Massachusetts; and David Rockwood, of Palo Alto, California. He is also survived by seventeen and one-half grandchildren.
Funeral services were held on Saturday, March 8, at the Cincinnati Ohio Stake Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 15th at 10:00 a.m. at the Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 Burial will be in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Utah. Online condolences welcomed at www.larkincares.com.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the Rural Alliance for the Arts (RAA), P.O. Box 307, Batesville IN 47006, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Missionary Fund at LDS Philanthropies, 15 East South Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84150.
