James Allen Rolfe

1940 - 2021

James Allen Rolfe
Dallas - Born on May 24, 1940, in Sherman, Texas, James Allen Rolfe died on February 26, 2021, after a valiant twenty-year battle with melanoma cancer and lung cancer. The son of Rhea and Charles Overton Rolfe, Jim graduated from Sherman High School in 1958, and he was honored as a Distinguished Student in 2005. Following three years of service in the United States Army, Jim attended and graduated from Austin College in 1965 where he was a member of the basketball team and president of his fraternity. Throughout his lifetime, Jim continued to be an avid supporter of the college and served as president of the Alumni Association and president of the A (Athletic) association. In 2000, Jim received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Austin College, and he was admitted into the A Association's Hall of Fame in 2005. In February 2020, Austin College honored Jim by naming their new basketball court the "Jim Rolfe Court". Jim attended law school at the University of Texas at Austin and received the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1968. He was a member of the Dean's Round Table at the University of Texas Law School, a member of the Dallas Bar Association, the Dallas County Criminal Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas, and he was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. He served as an Assistant City Attorney for the city of Dallas, an Assistant District Attorney for Dallas County, and an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. He rose in the United States Attorney's office to the position of chief of the criminal division before leaving the office for private practice. In 1981, he was appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District by President Ronald Reagan, and he received citations from a number of federal agencies for his performance in that position. He was a member of the National Former United States Attorneys and has served on the board of directors. Jim was a 32nd degree Mason, a member of the Metropolitan Lodge of Dallas and the Hella Shrine of Dallas. In addition, he was an advocate for the Scottish Rite Hospital. Jim was a member of the National Football Association, and he served on the board of the Association's Gridiron Club of Dallas and was an advisor to the board of directors of Matador Resources Company. Jim loved the Lord. He was a member of Park Cities Presbyterian Church and hosted a weekly Bible study in his home for sixteen years. Jim was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He is survived by his wife, Susan Stowers Rolfe, his daughter Rebecca Rolfe Youngman and her husband Patrick, his son, James Gregory Rolfe and his wife Elizabeth, and by his granddaughters Isabella and Emilia Rolfe. In addition, he is survived by his sister Patricia Rolfe Baker and her husband Jim, by his brother Charles Rolfe and his wife Susan, and his sisters-in-law Sally Stowers Oliver (Travis), Diane Stowers Brunson (Jerry), and Nancy Stowers Cooper as well as numerous other loving family members and friends. Jim was particularly grateful to the doctors who gave him excellent care and who became his strong advocates and friends. Thank you, Dr. Maureen Gutierrez, Dr. Tom Froehlich, Dr. Thomas Chiu, Dr. Michael Folkert, Dr. John Minna, and Dr. Craig Slingluff. A memorial service celebrating Jim's life will be held at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, at Park Cities Presbyterian Church, 4124 Oak Lawn Ave., Dallas, TX 75219. For those of you that are unable to attend, you may live stream at the following link: https://pcpc.org/live/memorial-services/ In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Mercy Street: 3801 Holystone Street, Dallas, TX 75212 https://www.mercystreetdallas.org/?form=donate or to Austin College Basketball: 900 North Grand Ave. Suite 6G, Sherman, TX 75090 www.austincollege.edu/giving or to the donor's charity of choice.