Jay Rockefeller (Senator) Dies at 89

John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV was a Democratic U.S. senator from West Virginia who earlier served two terms as the state's governor.  He died Thursday night at his home in Washington, D.C., according to Mary Stewart, vice president for external affairs at WETA.  He was 89.

Born June 18, 1937, in New York City, Rockefeller was a great-grandson of John D. Rockefeller Sr.  He graduated from Harvard University in 1961, then moved to Emmons, West Virginia, as a VISTA volunteer.  Voters sent him to the West Virginia House of Delegates and later elected him secretary of state.  He served as governor from 1977 to 1985 and as a U.S. senator from 1985 to 2015, chairing the Senate Veterans' Affairs, Intelligence, and Commerce committees during his tenure.  In the Senate he pressed for children's health coverage through the Children's Health Insurance Program and supported the Affordable Care Act.

He is survived by his wife, Sharon Percy Rockefeller (81), president and chief executive of WETA; and their four children, John Davison "Jamie" Rockefeller V, Valerie Blanchette Rockefeller, Charles P. Rockefeller and Justin Aldrich Rockefeller.