Roy Oscar Rodwell

Roy O Rodwell, Jr., 86, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, October 19, 2022. Roy was born September 26, 1936 in Henderson, North Carolina, son of Roy O Rodwell and Rebecca Watkins Rodwell. He is survived by his daughters Nancy R Tuohy of Winston-Salem, NC and Rebecca R Kelley (husband Jason) of Durham, NC, grandsons Patrick R Tuohy and William G Tuohy, sister Nancy R Baker, nephew Rutland R Baker, and nieces Suzanne B Payton and Ashley B Dolieslager.

Roy loved his family, his country, the United States Marine Corps, Duke University, Duke basketball, the history of Roman Britain, etymology, astronomy, classical music, and the outdoors. An avid hiker and birder, he hiked the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico, the Alps of Switzerland, the Cascades of Oregon, and the length of Hadrian’s Wall. At the ripe old age of 60, he attended a week-long wilderness survival training course in Utah which included participating in his first sweat lodge ceremony and foraging for food in the wild while completing a solo camping experience. He instilled his love of travel in his daughters as well. While they were still in their teens, he took them to Zimbabwe and Botswana and initiated them with 10-20 mile daily hikes that included a very memorable “mock charge” by a young bull elephant and an actual Jeep versus buffalo head-to-head incident. In his later years, neighbors at his retirement community outside Asheville nicknamed him “Rock Man” because he was most frequently sighted stoically walking the hills surrounding the golf course wearing a backpack filled with rocks. Rodwell was a lifetime member of the North Carolina Wildlife Association, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Sierra Club. He was a member of The International Order of St. Hubertus, The Society of the Cincinnati, a Trustee of Kappa Alpha Order Educational Foundation, a Trustee of Garrett Baker Foundation, and a member of the United States Marine Corps Cryptologic Association. As a fervent lifelong learner, he studied abroad at the Duke-In-Oxford program in England for many years.

He was a strong believer that education was of primary importance and wanted to improve access to higher education among under-represented communities especially in eastern North Carolina. He established multiple student scholarships at Duke University and Wake Forest University enabling many recipients to become the first in their families to attend college. At Duke University he also established endowments for Cultural Affairs, Duke Chapel Music, and the Deanship of Duke Chapel. He was a strong supporter of the Director of Duke University Chapel Music Endowment, Duke Chapel Choir and Music Endowment. At the Duke University Medical Center he supported the Fred Cobb, MD Professorship Fund. In an unusual, non-Duke move, he also established an endowed professorship at the University of North Carolina Kenan Flagler Business School

Following graduation from Henderson High School in 1954 he was accepted at Duke University as the recipient of a Naval ROTC scholarship. He was a member of Kappa Alpha Order and upon graduation in 1958 was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps where he served three years of active duty, including service as a Communications Intelligence Officer at Guantanamo Bay during the Bay of Pigs operation. He retired a Major in 1978 after continued service in the US Marine Corps Reserve. During his private sector career, he proudly served his country for several years as a consultant in Langley, VA.

In 1964 he completed a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill rather than at Duke, “only because Duke did not have an MBA program at the time”. He joined Arthur Andersen & Co in Atlanta achieving his CPA in 1965. From 1966 until 1970 he was Vice President and Director of Citizens Bank & Trust Co. in Henderson. In 1970 he joined R S Dickson, Powell, Kistler & Crawford in Charlotte as corporate finance General Partner. Powell, Kistler merged with EF Hutton in 1973 and he became Vice President of Southeastern Corporate Finance. From 1981-1986 he was President of Hutton Timber Resources Corp managing $50,000,000 in public partnerships investing in southern timberland.

Beginning in 1978 he formed investment syndicates that acquired existing businesses including radio/television stations, a Mercedes-Benz dealership, a travel agency in North Carolina, companies manufacturing industrial casters and gun accessories, and a 1,000 acre wine vineyard in California. In 1980 he and his partners purchased York Wallcoverings, Inc., a national manufacturer of wallpaper where he served as Treasurer and Director for 28 years. From 1990 until 2010 he developed real estate in the Research Triangle including commercial warehouses, shopping centers, and office buildings.

In 1985 he co-founded InterSouth Partners, the first venture capital firm headquartered in Research Triangle, NC from which he retired in 1995. From 1998 until 2007 Rodwell owned and operated a 7,000 acre cattle ranch in Kemmerer, Wyoming with 1,000 Black Angus cows. While he never really retired, he came back from Wyoming to continue managing business ventures in North Carolina as he enjoyed less desk work, gained sons in law, grandsons, dogs, and companions.

The family appreciates the expertise of the nursing, medical, and palliative care staff at Duke Neurology and Duke Hospital, Brian Center, and the Renaissance Care Home at Brier Creek.

A celebration of life will be held on Friday, December 9 at 2:00 pm at Duke Chapel, 401 Chapel Dr, Durham, NC 27705, with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Duke University Chapel, the North Carolina Wildlife Association, or a charity of your choice.