James Rockefeller, at 102; Olympic rower headed bank

By Diane Scarponi, Associated Press  |  August 12, 2004

NEW HAVEN -- James Stillman Rockefeller, the oldest-known US Olympic medal winner and the former head of the bank that became Citigroup, died Tuesday. He was 102.

Mr. Rockefeller suffered a stroke Aug. 5, said his grandson, Stillman, who lived with him at his Greenwich home.

Mr. Rockefeller was the captain of Yale University's eight-man rowing team with coxswain that won gold at the 1924 Paris Olympics, beating the Canadian team by less than 16 seconds. Another member of the crew was the renowned pediatrician and writer Dr. Benjamin Spock.

The oars from the winning race and the gold medal were prominently displayed in Mr. Rockefeller's house, Stillman Rockefeller said. "I think he was really proud of that -- probably more than the bank career," his grandson said.

Stillman Rockefeller, who lived with his grandfather for two years, attributed Mr. Rockefeller's long life to a regimented lifestyle: breakfast at 8 a.m., lunch at 1 p.m., cocktails at 6 p.m. (always rye whiskey with water), and dinner promptly at 7 p.m. He liked plain food, without sauces or cheese, and plenty of fresh vegetables, including those grown in the garden of his estate.

Mr. Rockefeller was in good health until shortly before he died. He drove his car up until last year and would review documents from the various charities and businesses he helped lead, his grandson said.

Mr. Rockefeller, born June 8, 1902, was a grandson of William Rockefeller, who founded Standard Oil with his brother John D.

James Rockefeller graduated from Yale in 1924 and served in the Airborne Command during World War II.

He started at the bank, then called the National City Bank, in 1930, following his uncle and grandfather, who were leaders of the institution.

He became president in 1952, chairman in 1959, and retired in 1967.

In 1955, under Mr. Rockefeller's leadership, the bank merged with the First National Bank of New York to form Citigroup.

Mr. Rockefeller also was a director of numerous companies, including Pan American Airways, Northern Pacific Railroad, NCR, and Monsanto, and served on the boards of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the American Museum of Natural History.

Mr. Rockefeller and his wife, Nancy Carnegie Rockefeller, had four children.

She died in 1994.