Craig Andrew Rockhold

Craig Andrew Rockhold
Resident of Palo Alto
Craig Andrew Rockhold, beloved son, brother, husband, father, and friend to many, passed away on Saturday, April 7th at the age of 59. Craig was born in San Francisco to Dick and Louise Rockhold, and grew up in Menlo Park with his sister Janice and brother David.
Craig swam and played water polo at Menlo-Atherton High School; both became life-long passions. He attended UCLA, playing water polo and playing tuba in UCLA's Solid Gold Sound marching band. He met his wife Anne in the band there, and they were married in 1985. By 1994, they had settled into the Palo Alto community that became home. Craig took great joy in remodeling their four Palo Alto homes over the years, always leaving the homes better than they found them.
Craig and Anne were blessed with two wonderful children, Catherine (Katie) and Peter. If ever you had the opportunity to meet Craig, no doubt you experienced his pride and love for Katie and Peter as he would enthusiastically update you on their latest exploits.
Craig worked at several tech firms such as Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, Taligent, and International Data Group, later enjoying work as a print broker and freelance graphic designer. He shared his talents generously, spending many hours each month designing pro bono projects for friends and family.
Without doubt, his most rewarding avocation was that of coach, trainer, and referee in the swimming, water polo, and fitness worlds. Craig was a dedicated swimmer himself, a noontime and weekend morning regular at Stanford Masters Swimming and the University Club of Palo Alto. He was an internationally-ranked water polo referee, and was passionate about continually improving the sport. He was honored to help teach clinics for newer referees, and advocated for annual rule changes to strengthen the sport. He treasured his stint as a volunteer assistant coach at Paly during Peter's high school playing days there. The friendships and camaraderie that he enjoyed through water polo and swimming were strong, deep, and extremely fulfilling to him.
More recently, Craig followed his passion for fitness, and became certified as a Personal Trainer and then as a Pilates instructor through Reach Pilates. He trained and taught at Vivre and PilatesV. He loved helping his clients to reach their goals with a challenging, yet understanding and fun, coaching style. He took particular pride in helping clients who were overcoming physical or mental obstacles, or recovering from serious injuries.
Craig enjoyed traveling, all types of music (the louder, the better), supporting the Navy and the US Naval Academy, his VW Westfalia, collecting Reyn Spooner Hawaiian shirts, mystery trips, remodeling, gardening, genealogy, and simply puttering around the house. An avid sports fan, he loved his UCLA Bruins, SF Giants, and 49ers. But most of all, he loved family time and family trips. Holidays, birthdays, graduations, weddings.
Craig is survived by, and will be dearly missed by, his wife Anne of Palo Alto; daughter Katie Annunziata of Cookham, England; son Ensign Peter Rockhold, USN of Corpus Christi, Texas; mother Louise Rockhold of Menlo Park; sister Janice Gibbons of San Jose; brother David Rockhold of Corvallis, Oregon; sister-in law Sheila Hickey of Coto de Caza; sister-in-law Sarah Holloway of Los Gatos; father-in-law Alan Lord of San Diego; and each of their families. Craig's beloved father Dick Rockhold passed away in 2006 and his dear mother-in-law Dorothy Lord passed in 2017.
Craig lives on through his children. Katie, with her artistic flair and love of design, history, and cartoons. Peter, with his passion for fitness, swimming, and water polo (SF teams, Hawaiian shirts, and Westies also).
The family is hosting a casual open house on Sunday, April 15th from 1-4pm.
Donations may be made in celebration of Craig's life to USA Water Polo at usawaterpolo.org, or UCLA Grand Challenge – Depression at grandchallenges.ucla.edu/depression/


View the online memorial for Craig Andrew Rockhold