In Loving Memory of Phil Rockefeller

Warren Philips “Phil” Rockefeller passed away peacefully in the early hours of April 15, 2026, surrounded by his wife and three daughters, all of them cozy in a home sheltered by the towering sugar maple tree Phil brought to Bainbridge Island as a seedling from his native Red Hook, NY, and the rhodies he looked after for decades.

Phil was born to Warren Willis Rockefeller and Frederica Elizabeth (Coon) Rockefeller on November 20, 1938, joining his beloved older sister, Frederica “Freddie.” He had a charmed childhood in the Hudson River Valley, rich with family time on his favorite wrap-around porch, assorted mischief and adventures on his bicycle, and fishing and swimming in the Catskills and Adirondacks, where he developed a lifelong appreciation of the natural world and our role as stewards of natural resources. He had some success during high school as a jazz drummer, member of the track team, and basketball player. Phil skipped at least one grade and graduated as Salutatorian (always chagrined that the Valedictorian took easier classes while he took Latin), and was destined for a more academic course. Still, he kept a pair of drumsticks in his pajama drawer for the rest of his life and watched all of the Final Four games each year.

He received a scholarship to attend Yale as an undergrad (Class of 1960), no small feat for a boy of rural, small-town origins, and then attended Harvard, where he received his J.D. in 1963. During his years at Yale, he was part of the Whiffenpoof singing group and chaired the social events calendar, which included hosting folk singers. This included a memorable meeting with Pete Seeger, which inspired enough spinning of the “We Shall Overcome: The Complete Carnegie Hall Concert” album that Phil and his daughters could sing along to every song. Yale expanded his musical world and sparked a lifelong love of opera, jazz, classical, and musical theater. He spent some weekend nights dancing at Sister Schools, where he was undoubtedly in high demand as an excellent lindy hop dancer. His wife and daughters well remember the syncopated movement of his lindy hop shoulders, knees and wrists as he joyfully spun them around the kitchen. He once told a daughter, “I don’t think anyone knows just how much I love music and dancing.”

Upon graduation, admission to the bar, and completion of his active reserve duty with the Air Force, he spent a brief time in Washington D.C. as a legislative aide before moving to Tacoma to join Weyerhauser’s legal team. He left corporate law for a position with the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), newly formed by Nixon (a surprising American history fact), in Seattle, where he found a beautiful island called Bainbridge on which to settle, and met his wife Anita, who joined him there to raise their three daughters.

Phil’s work life was founded on service to democratic principles, compassionate and sensible public policy, and the common good. He found many ways to build a better world: He was Regional Commissioner of the U.S. Office of Education, and education aide/policy advisor to Gov. John Spellman under whom he started the state’s first Talented and Gifted program, then turned his attention to elected office. He was elected as a State Representative in 1998 and served in the State House until he was elected as a State Senator to serve from 2005 to July 2011, representing the beautiful 23rd District. During his tenure, he was assistant floor leader for the Senate Democrats, chair of the Senate Environment, Water & Energy Committee, and a member of the Senate K-12 Education and Ways & Means committees.

His family is convinced that his years in the legislature added years to his life, so deep was his joy in the legislative process, where he was able to shepherd bills through the process to become laws that improved the health of Puget Sound, protected and restored salmon runs statewide, improved the environment (including phasing out a coal-fired power plant), and strengthened public education. He was perhaps proudest of his work on the creation of Washington State’s College Bound Scholarship Program, which covers college tuition for qualifying students who register during 7th or 8th grade; one of his final wishes was that the Washington State Legislature restore full funding for this program that can change lives and improve our state’s future. He sponsored, co- sponsored, and worked on so many consequential bills that it would take a novella to list them all. During his legislative years and after, Phil served as a mentor and trusted advisor to many of his colleagues and aspiring public servants.

Phil’s final State Senate term ended early when Governor Christine Gregoire appointed him to serve as one of Washington State’s representative members on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Phil served 5 years here, including 1 year as Chair of the Council. As Council chair, he presided over the completion of the Seventh Northwest Power Plan, which continues the Council's commitment to meeting all or nearly all new demand for electricity in the Northwest with zero-carbon, low-cost energy efficiency. As fish and wildlife committee chair, he presided over the development and completion of the 2014 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, in which the Council works with Columbia River tribes and fish and wildlife agencies in the four Northwest states to mitigate the impacts of hydropower dams on fish and wildlife.

Phil was then honored to serve as a member and chair of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board from 2011 through September of 2020. During his tenure, the board awarded more than $542 million for more than 2,300 salmon recovery projects across Washington State, and oversaw the implementation of the board's new targeted investment policy. Phil was recognized as “an engaged and conscientious member and chair of the board, asking tough questions and expecting salmon benefits with every public dollar invested,” before he began his retirement from public life in the fall of 2020.

When he wasn’t at work, Phil served his community in various ways, including as a board member for Martha and Mary Health and Rehab Center in Poulsbo, the Kitsap Area Agency on Aging, one of the founding board members of the Bainbridge Island Land Trust, and Kitsap Community Resources. In 2009, Phil and his wife Anita turned 1/3 of an acre of their property into Rock Farm, a community pea patch. This garden now donates nearly 3,000 pounds of organic produce each year to two local food banks, Helpline and Fishline, as well as fresh flower arrangements to nursing homes on Bainbridge Island and in Poulsbo. Phil was a farm boy at heart, and working the rocky, glacial soil of Bainbridge to grow food for his neighbors brought him great happiness. Phil never missed an opportunity during a family road trip to roll the car windows down while driving through farmland, then used his deep voice to instruct his daughters: “Take a deep breath, girls! That’s the smell of fertile earth! That’s the smell of your roots!”

Phil’s north star was Anita (Frankel) Rockefeller, his beloved wife of 51+ years. Their mutual devotion and lived example of public service provided their daughters with a strong grounding in critical thinking, duty to their communities, personal sacrifice, and love of family. Phil and Anita sometimes took time off from their good work to travel. They collected memories and fridge magnets on trips to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, India, Sri Lanka, Spain, Italy, France, Norway, Austria, Croatia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary, Germany, China, Taiwan, Mexico, Canada, Alaska, and Hawaii. When they were at home, they spent untold hours caring for their fruit trees, vegetables, flowers, and forest. Under Phil’s watchful eye, the moss along their wooded pathways met the high standard set by the Bloedel Reserve. Phil loved fruit and honeybees, and told his young daughters bedtime stories about “Bucky Bee,” inspired by the bees in the hives he tended, that were nestled under the branches of an Italian prune plum tree that provided fruit for Anita’s annual plum kuchen, and honey for his toast and peppermint tea.

Phil was blessed with three daughters, and in turn, he blessed his three girls by treating them as his equals in intellect, humanity, and abilities. Over the years, many of his daughters’ friends who did not have the gift of a good father looked to Phil as a symbol of what could be, and what all daughters deserve.

Phil’s keen observance of the world meant he caught many magical moments with his children and later his grandchildren. No shooting star, spring trillium flower, visiting bird, or turning autumn leaf escaped his notice or his sharing. His wife, children, and grandchildren are deeply grateful for the wisdom, sacrifice, and courage he showed his family.

In all the loving messages his family received from loved ones during Phil’s final days, a few words were repeated: Gentleman, Integrity, Moral & Ethical, Humility, Quiet Grit, Humor, Voracious Reader, Restless Intellect, Generosity, Compassionate, and Unstoppable Curiosity. His nephews summed him up beautifully, “He has always been a constant source of strength and an example on how to approach…well, everything - with kindness, rational thought and patience - and some unspoken grit…and unstoppable curiosity. His ability to ask questions, and good questions, is rarely matched.” Phil’s curiosity found a way to make absolutely anything interesting and worthy of questions and conscious engagement.

His ability to find common ground by carefully listening to all ideas before offering a solution that synthesized the best of each person’s offerings serves as a lasting inspiration to his family, friends, and colleagues. His was a life well lived, and he truly leaves our earth a better place and all of us better for having known and loved him.

Phil is survived by his steadfast wife Anita Jane Frankel Rockefeller, the love of his life; his headstrong daughters, Rebecca Ann Rockefeller, Melissa Sweet Rockefeller (Minh Pham), and Airyka Lynn Rockefeller (Kelley Swenson), who were beloved even when they were challenging; his nephews Todd, Warren, and Andrew Dimmick, who were the sons of his heart; his grandchildren Ava Justice Rockefeller Campbell, Mira Shalom Rockefeller Campbell, Peter Phillip Pham, Lilou Sweet Pham, and Lollino Rose Rockefeller, for whom he worked so hard to build a better future; and many other family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you ask good questions, read good books, dance more, say “I love you” as often as possible, and consider a donation to Helpline House or Fishline Poulsbo.

Arrangements entrusted to Cook Family Funeral Home of Bainbridge Island, WA.