James Joseph Rocco, age 67, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, passed away in Houston, Texas on August 29, 2021. He is survived by his wife, Judy, his four children, Michael, Alicia, Jamie, and Kristen and his ten grandchildren: Dyllan, Dylan, Zoe, Olivia, Gabriel, Natalie, Emma, Rocco, Ivan and Annabelle.
James was the third oldest of seven siblings and an avid music and sports fan. At Oliver High School, he lettered in cross country, swimming and track. In 1972, James was singled out for his academic and athletic excellence when he was chosen as Outstanding Student Athlete of the year and senior class valedictorian.
In 1976, James earned a Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Pittsburgh where he had also been a member of the cross country and track teams. James then received a scholarship to attend Ohio State University and earned a Master’s degree in Education with an emphasis on Adaptive Physical Education and Early Childhood Development.
For fifteen years James worked as a Special Education teacher in Pittsburgh. In 1982, he married Judy Goggin and subsequently moved to Texas where he lived on twenty acres of land with her family. His children were born and raised here.
While working as a teacher in Texas, James also worked part-time as an insurance salesman. In 1992, he became the Department Head of Employee Benefits for Business Staffing Inc. At this company, James met his future fellow co-founders of Harbor America, a PEO staff-leasing company, which was ultimately started in 1997. He worked as an Employee Benefits Manager and was a Regional Sales Leader for ten years before becoming its Chief Operating Officer in 2007.
As COO, James incorporated lessons from his years of teaching in order to foster a positive cooperative environment. In 2012, James left his in-house position to become a broker with his daughter, Kristen, where they worked on building Harbor America’s clientele.
As important as James’ career was, he prioritized his family. He was heavily involved in his children’s lives and they went on countless trips around the country from childhood to adulthood. For the past eighteen years, James and Judy have resided at their lake house in Livingston, Texas where they hosted many family gatherings and parties.
A lifelong fan of professional basketball and football, most of James’ interests included a form of competition. He played many sports and especially favored pool and shuffleboard at his lake house. He was an avid game player who enjoyed everything from cards and board games to outdoor sports. James enjoyed listening to Motown and various 1970s genres including disco. James even had an appreciation for modern Top 40 music as well and would sing parts of these songs spontaneously given the appropriate moment. Not surprisingly, James was a karaoke fan even going so far as to buy a machine for his house, which he and his family would enjoy on the weekends.
James was known as a hard-working, gregarious, funny, warm, intelligent, generous, faith-filled man.
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