Jay Rockefeller, heir to famed dynasty and healthcare advocate in US Senate, dies at 89

The Jerusalem Post · REUTERS · 2026-11-06 14:50 UTC

Rockefeller was married to public television executive Sharon Percy Rockefeller, with whom he had four children.

John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV, the progeny of one of America's most famous and wealthiest families who, during three decades in the US Senate, sought expanded healthcare for the poor and excoriated former US president George W. Bush's handling of the Iraq War, died on Friday at his home in Washington, The Washington Post reported. He was 89.

His family did not provide a cause, the newspaper added.

Rockefeller, a tall, soft-spoken Democrat with liberal views, was elected in 1984 to the first of his five six-year terms representing West Virginia in the Senate after two terms as governor of the poor coal-mining state.

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