James Rockler

1952 - 2018

James Rockler of Boulder, Colorado passed away suddenly on October 2, 2018. He was 66 years old, but according to James he was only 9 years old, since he only aged one year for every 7 years the rest of us age. He was born July 4, 1952 in Washington, D.C. to Walter and Aino Rockler. He was raised outside of Chicago, went to boarding school in Switzerland, and eventually settled in Boulder after he graduated from the University of Colorado in 1976. James joked that he had worked every job, but he loved being a ski instructor. He was very active and always outside soaking up the sun, preferring to wander away from the beaten path and create trails of his own. He loved the mountains and skied year-round, finding snow wherever he could. He enjoyed attending baseball games and concerts and was one of the Grateful Dead's biggest fans. James' most important and proudest role was being a Dad and Grandpa, or "The Great Daddio" as he liked to be called. He was very involved in his daughters' lives and would do anything to make them happy. Once, he traveled all the way to Denmark just to surprise his oldest daughter for dinner. James loved dogs and was always going out of his way to greet them. He insisted that dogs are a superior species to humans, and determined a person's character by how they treated his furry friends. Although James was in a life-threatening bike accident when he was 9 years old (in human years), he enjoyed riding his bike all over town. It is fitting that he was riding his bike as he left this earth, also at 9 years old (in James years). He joins his parents and beloved dogs in the celestial skies, and leaves behind his earthlings: siblings Elliot Rockler, Nicolas Rockler and Julia Tillery, daughters Erica Knight and Briana Rockler, grandkids Maddie, Allie and Soren, and his granddogs Scarlett and Bessie. James' family will be celebrating his life at the Sunrise Amphitheater on Friday, October 12th at 11:00am. All are welcome, especially dogs. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in his honor to the Boulder County Humane Society.