Fred Rockwood, former Hillenbrand CEO, dies at 66
- Rockwood went to Stanford and Harvard Law School
- Worked with Mitt Romney after law school
- He founded and ran Forethought business at Hillenbrand
Fred Rockwood, former chief executive officer of Hillenbrand Industries Inc. and leader in the local Mormon church, died March 3 of prostate cancer at his home in Batesville, Ind. He was 66.
He collected military medals, spoke four other languages and worked alongside former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
But Mr. Rockwood’s family remembers him as anything but strait-laced – a term often applied to Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who also is a Mormon.
“We have been laughing nonstop this week,” said Mr. Rockwood’s wife, Jolene. “The man had a sense of humor that was unbelievable.”
Justin Rockwood of Bothell, Wash., Mr. Rockwood’s oldest son, said he was laid back but caring.
“Most of the time, his humor was self-deprecating,” his son said. “I think that stems from his humility.
“His guiding principle in raising children was to teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves.”
Born and raised in Utah, Mr. Rockwood graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Law School.
He followed Romney from Harvard to a job at Boston Consulting Group in the 1970s, starting a business career that eventually took him to a client company, Hillenbrand Industries in Batesville.
“He was stunned because he hadn’t gone to business school,” Jolene Rockwood remembered the move to Boston Consulting with a chuckle. “We still wonder why they hired him.”
Starting at Hillenbrand in 1977, Mr. Rockwood founded the Forethought Group, a financial services company that sells funeral planning, in 1985. Hillenbrand sold Forethought in 2004, when Mr. Rockwood was CEO.
He led the company from 1999 to 2005, the first CEO who was not a member of the Hillenbrand family.
“Dan Hillenbrand was kind of a mentor to Fred,” Jolene Rockwood said. “With Forethought, Dan backed him 100 percent and just gave him free rein.”
Current Hillenbrand CEO Joe Raver called Rockwood “the smartest guy I’ve ever been in a room with.”
“He was so far ahead of everybody else,” Raver said. “And he took a great interest in young talent. I was the beneficiary of that.”
Mr. Rockwood also brought to Hillenbrand a strategy process that has turned into its own business.
“That really was developed and implemented by Fred almost 40 years ago,” Raver said. “That may be one of his most enduring achievements.”
Outside the office, church was Mr. Rockwood’s main vocation, his family said. He was president of the Cincinnati Stake of the local Mormon church, after serving as everything from bishop to Sunday school teacher.
“The thing I will remember most about him is that he was truly a man of God,” his wife said. “He really, really tried to model his life after Jesus Christ.”
Mr. Rockwood maintained enough varied interests that Jolene Rockwood said he had a “secret life that nobody knew about.”
He was active with the Dan Beard Boy Scout Council. His facility with languages was legendary. Mr. Rockwood was fluent in two dialects of Chinese, Japanese and German, but was able to communicate in several other languages.
“The man was a genius,” Jolene Rockwood said. “I’d walk by him and he’d be reading a book in Bulgarian on the couch.”
In addition to his wife and son, survivors include another son, David Rockwood of Palo Alto, Calif.; daughters Melissa Adams of Highland, Utah, Jennifer Knight of Belmont, Mass., Katie Sidwell of Pleasant Grove, Utah, and Elizabeth Tirado of Woburn, Mass.; and 17 grandchildren.
Services were March 8 at the Cincinnati Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Lakeside Park.
A memorial service and burial will be Saturday in Salt Lake City.
Memorials can be made to the Rural Alliance for the Arts, P.O. Box 307, Batesville, IN 47006; or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Missionary Fund at LDS Philanthropies, 15 E. South Temple St., Salt Lake City, UT 84150. ■
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