A Brief History of Rockwell Fund, Inc.

The Founders

Mr. Rockwell was born in Cloverdale, Indiana in 1863 and moved with his family to Albany, Texas in 1877.  At the age of 20, he was employed by the M. T. Jones Lumber Company there.  He soon became manager of the yard and in 1889 he married Sarah Wade Richardson in Cisco, Texas.  In 1893 he was appointed manager of all the M. T. Jones lumber yards.  (A year later, Jesse H. Jones, a young man who would become prominent in the history of Houston and its philanthropy, moved from Tennessee to Dallas to work in his uncle M. T. Jones’ lumber yard located there).  In 1895 Mr. Rockwell purchased the M. T. Jones yards located in West Texas and New Mexico.  In 1898, on the death of Mr. Jones, Mr. Rockwell moved from West Texas to Houston where he maintained his home and business headquarters and served as a co-executor of the Jones estate.

Mr. Rockwell remained in Houston until his death in 1931.  His will provided that a portion of the income from his estate be placed in a charitable trust to be called the Rockwell Fund.  The will directed that the trust “shall be annually distributed in the support of the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ on Earth, and in worthy charity, to be determined by my Executors.”

The Early Years

After James M. Rockwell’s death, the Rockwell Fund was administered by his son, James Wade Rockwell, for the next 31 years.  In 1949 the trust was incorporated as Rockwell Fund, Inc., a Texas not-for-profit corporation, devoted to the “support of charitable, educational, or religious purpose or undertaking, including the disbursing of funds and rendering of assistance to the sick, poor and needy, and to churches, funds, trusts, foundations, community chests, and other organizations and institutions created or organized for exclusively charitable, educational or religious purposes.”  When James Wade died in 1962, his younger brother, Henry Martin Rockwell, became president, officiating until his death in 1978.  Following Henry’s death, Joe M. Green, Jr., first cousin to the Rockwell brothers and a foundation Trustee since 1959, assumed management of the Fund, a position he retained until his death in 1994. 

Moving Forward

Mr. Green was the last Rockwell relative to manage the Fund.  During his tenure the Fund doubled its endowment, purchased its first computer, hired its first program staff and began its evolution from a small family-run organization to a third generation foundation under professional management.  Joe was succeeded as president in 1994 by R. Terry Bell, whose long association with the Fund includes service as Trustee since 1980 and as Vice President since 1981.

From its modest beginning, the Fund was augmented on the deaths of James’s widow, Sarah (1943), daughter Lillian (1956), son James Wade (1962), niece Sylvia (1977) and son Henry (1978).  By the end of 2006, the endowment had grown to approximately $125,000,000.