Obituary of Alice May Rockwell

On Wednesday, September 14, Alice May (Brewer) Rockwell of Wesley Chapel, Florida passed away at the age of 97. She recently moved to Florida from Lexington, South Carolina, having lived on Padre Island, Texas for over 50 years prior to that.

Alice was born to Viola (Warriner), a homemaker, and Alexander Van Brewer, a professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M, on December 3, 1924. She grew up in Bryan, Texas where she was salutatorian of her high school class. She would later go on to complete a degree in mathematics from Syracuse University. It was during her nursing training in 1944 at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston that she met her lifelong partner and husband, Dr. Paul A Rockwell, MD, who was doing his residency there as part of a US Navy program during WWII. Their love story would last for over 50 years until his death in 2003.

Alice was a brilliant and adventurous soul who became a private pilot and with Paul, flew around the country visiting friends and family. She was also a painter, a nurse, a beekeeper, and a self-taught builder who, with her husband, built a house by themselves and cultivated a small ranch in Kenedy, TX. They loved spending their free time there raising roses and fruit trees.

In spite of all of her accomplishments, she made it clear that she was most proud of her four children whom she loved dearly.

Besides her husband, Alice May was preceded in death by her three sisters, Betty Black, Margery Rafferty, and Willie Evelyn Kimmey, all from Texas, and her oldest son, Thomas Alexander Rockwell of Corpus Christi, Texas. She leaves behind her two remaining sons, Frederick (Ted) Rockwell and partner Jane Randall of Plano, Texas, and David Stewart Rockwell and wife Nancy of Dallas, Texas. She also leaves behind her daughter Elizabeth (Betsi) Smith and husband Harry Smith, of Wesley Chapel Florida, with whom she had lived for the past six years. Alice had ten grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.

Alice was a beautiful and accomplished lady who made life brighter and warmer for all who knew her. She was and still is, loved dearly. She will be missed beyond measure.