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In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar
ROCKWELL, Roy James Edward (Jim) - passed into the presence of the Lord in the early morning of November 30, 2025.
Jim was the seventh child born to Walter Lewis Rockwell and Vera Rockwell (Vail) of Kings County, Nova Scotia, on April 9, 1937. Jim's earliest memories were of a happy life on the farm near Sheffield Mills with his large, loving, and very musical family. An idyllic childhood was spent playing baseball, riding in a horse-drawn sleigh at Christmas, getting into mischief with older brother Alec, and attending Sunday school. He described his Sunday school teacher as the first formative spiritual influence in his life, teaching him about God's love.
Enlisting at the age of 17, Jim was a proud veteran of the Royal Canadian Navy. He spent 20 years of his life on numerous assignments, including two long stints as a Warrant Officer on HMCS Bonaventure. He travelled the world in the service of Canada and built a collection of now-infamous stories that he would tell and re-tell to his children and grandchildren about the colourful people and events of his Naval career. They cannot be repeated here.
Jim married Beatrice Ann Grandy in 1958, and together they built a family life characterized by hospitality and humour, and raised three children: Guy Rodney, Karla Lee, and Tracey Lynn. Upon retiring from the RCN in the early 1970s, Jim and the family left their beloved Nova Scotia and made a cross-continental odyssey to the West Coast, where they started a new life in Richmond, B.C. Jim took great pride in maintaining a beautiful home on Sunnyholme Crescent, where the kids could host their friends for pool parties and get-togethers.
Jim was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident at age 19. He spent nearly three weeks in a coma, suffering a traumatic brain injury but surviving miraculously - his skull was reconstructed using a metal plate. Though Jim was able to lead a full life, the effects of this incident appeared progressively as he aged. The 70 years he lived after this brush with death, he called "borrowed time". Jim was characterized by resilience and faced many difficult periods of his life with a great deal of resolve and a positive attitude. He said at around age 75 that he no longer asked God for anything when he walked the Dyke trail and prayed– he simply said "thank you" for the many blessings in his life. One of the late blessings in his life was his sweetheart Sylvia, who always brought out the best in him and gave him several very happy years.
He was a farm boy, sailor, weekend mechanic, singer, salesman, and a good hand with a hammer or wrench. He was unflinchingly loyal to his Maple Leafs, and though the years robbed him almost entirely of his sight and hearing, he was keenly aware of his Blue Jays letting him down one last time. He was a proud father and grandfather. He is predeceased by his parents, Walter and Vera, his beloved siblings Robie, Murray, Clyde, Evelyn, Bud, Alec, Barb, and George, his wife Bea, and their infant daughter Mary. He is survived by his children, Guy (Terri), Karla, and Tracey; his grandchildren, Whitney, Jalen, Gatlin, Jacob, Samuel, Nathan, and Adam; and five great-grandchildren. Jim was an imperfect man who put his trust in the perfect saviour, Jesus Christ. We will miss him and his tenor harmony now that he has gone home to the Lord. (The Delta Optimist 11 Dec 2025)
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