BUCKHANNON — Before he was governor or a U.S. senator, Jay Rockefeller called a Wesleyan graduate and offered him a job.
The graduate was Bob Skinner, who later became West Virginia Wesleyan College’s vice president for advancement.
“I will never forget his phone call offering me an opportunity to work at Wesleyan after graduation. Every time he saw me years after he left the college, he always made an effort to say hello,” Skinner wrote in a Facebook tribute.
Rockefeller has died at 89. He spent two terms as West Virginia’s governor and 30 years in the U.S. Senate.
“Jay’s tenure as president of Wesleyan was one of high energy, institutional growth, global enlightenment, and fun. He was a president that sat in the student section during home athletic events, played racquetball, and walked throughout the campus each day,” Skinner wrote.
After losing the 1972 governor’s race, Rockefeller landed in Buckhannon. The college says his 1973-1975 presidency brought more students, new academic programs and changes in how the campus ran. He left to prepare for another run for governor, which he won.
The gym still carries his name. The college credited Rockefeller’s philanthropy and his role in getting the gymnasium and physical education center built with helping its athletic programs grow. The building was finished during his presidency and named for him after he left in 1975. Generations of students have known it as “The Rock.”
Current Wesleyan president James Moore described the connection he sees in old campus photographs.
“Of the many pictures the college has of Senator Rockefeller during his presidency, most show him engaging with students in meaningful ways. I’ve always drawn a lot of inspiration from the stories I’ve heard about how he connected with students on a personal level,” Moore said in the college’s statement.
His West Virginia work had started in Emmons, a coalfield community where he arrived as a Volunteers in Service to America worker in 1964. Rockefeller helped extend school bus service and get people to dental clinics, according to WVU Libraries’ account of his career.
He went on to serve as governor from 1977 to 1985. But his local legacy continues to this day. Here in Upshur County, a grant from Rockefeller while he was governor helped build the county pool and recreation park in the early 1980s. The facility is still enjoyed by residents today.
After his two terms as governor, Rockefeller represented West Virginia in the Senate from 1985 to 2015. His work there included the 1992 Coal Act, which helped protect health benefits for retired union miners and their families, according to WVU’s archival account.
After the 2006 Sago mine disaster, he brought Senators Mike Enzi, Ted Kennedy and Johnny Isakson to meet privately with the deceased miners’ families. The delegation also met with miners and federal mine-safety officials.
Rockefeller helped draft the MINER Act following the Sago and Aracoma disasters. The law, signed in June 2006, established new mine safety requirements.
His health care work reached children whose families struggled to afford insurance. Rockefeller helped create the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), enacted in 1997, which extended coverage to millions of children.
“Every child who receives health care through CHIP is part of Jay Rockefeller’s legacy,” West Virginia Democratic Party Vice Chair Pam Tucker Cline said in a statement.
His work also helped bring Toyota to West Virginia and establish E-Rate, a program that made phone and internet service more affordable for schools and libraries.
At WVU, his family’s support took on a particularly personal cause. The Rockefeller family founded the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute in 1999 to study Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders. He helped create it in honor of his mother, Blanchette, who had Alzheimer’s, the university said in its November 6 tribute.
“Sen. Rockefeller dedicated his life to serving others, especially West Virginians,” WVU President Michael T. Benson said in the release.
For many, that service was personal.
“He certainly lived a life of public service and encouraged others to do so,” Skinner wrote. “You had a profound influence on my life.”
Community Bulletin
General surgeon Avian Pham, MD, has joined WVU Medicine St. Joseph's Hospital, expanding the General Surgery team alongside Dr. Long at the clinic at 10 Amalia Drive in Buckhannon. Appointments: 304-473-2303. Read more →
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