Former state Rep. Rod Bockenfeld, R-Watkins, died at age 69 on Feb. 13 after a long battle with cancer. He died at his Watkins home, surrounded by family members.

A viewing will be held Sunday evening, Feb. 23, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Horan & McConaty, 5303 E. County Line Road, Centennial.

A Catholic Mass will be held Monday, Feb. 24, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, 19099 E. Floyd Avenue, Aurora.

Rodney Joseph Bockenfeld was born on Dec. 9, 1955, in Quincy, Ill., to Donald and Patricia Bockenfeld.

He graduated from Catholic Boys High School in 1974 and earned a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement administration from Western Illinois University.

Bockenfeld then interned with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and was in the courtroom for the retrial of Manson family member Leslie Van Houten.

Then, he was off to Colorado, earning a graduate degree in banking from the University of Colorado and becoming a fraud investigator for Mountain States Bankcard and later for the Central Bank of Denver.

It’s also where he met and married Susan in 1985. They have two stepsons, Paul, and David Strickland; two sons and a daughter, Joseph, Jacob, and Erika Bockenfeld; and eight grandchildren.

Bockenfeld started his own business, Bockenfeld Financial Group, which he ran for nine years.

But he was “born for politics,” the family said.

Bockenfeld served as president of the Denver chapter of the International Association of Credit Card Investigators. His first foray into state politics began with working on the 1980s and 1990s state House campaigns of Mike Coffman (now mayor of Aurora) and Bill Owens, who later became governor.

His first elected office was as an Arapahoe County Commissioner in 2004. He served two more terms before turning his attention to the state Capitol.

In 2018, he defeated the incumbent Republican representative for House District 56, Phil Covarrubias, and held onto the seat until 2024, when he declined to run for a fourth and final term.

During his time in the House, he first represented Adams and Arapahoe counties until 2022. After the maps were redistricted, he represented Adams, Arapahoe, Cheyenne, El Paso, Elbert, Kit Carson, and Lincoln counties.

Bockenfeld represented House Republicans on the powerful Joint Budget Committee in the 2023 session and for part of the 2024 session. He also served on the Legislative Audit Committee for four years.

His legislation included advocating for zero-based budgeting and measures to benefit first responders and K-12 and higher education.

In a statement, House Republicans called Bockenfeld a dedicated public servant, a steadfast leader, and a beloved friend. Bockenfeld “led with integrity, fought tirelessly for fiscal responsibility, and always put the needs of the people first,” the House Republicans said. “Whether guiding critical budget decisions on the Joint Budget Committee or standing firm in his principles on the House floor, he never backed down from doing what he believed was right.”

He will be remembered for his kindness, humor and steadfast friendship, they added.

In 2023, Capitol M reported Bockenfeld’s fondness for a “squeaky pig” toy he and other caucus members kept on their desks.

“Every time a bill passed that they thought was ‘pork,’ out came the pigs. Among the most vigorous pig-squealers over the years is Rep. Rod Bockenfeld of Watkins.

Well, the shoe is on the other foot this year, as Bockenfeld is now a member of the Joint Budget Committee and the recipient of numerous squeals during the long bill’s second reading this week.”

House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, said his passing saddened her. “I know a thing or two about working across the aisle from my time serving on the Joint Budget Committee, and I could say the same of former Representative Bockenfeld. In true bipartisan spirit, JBC members work together to deliver a balanced budget that undoubtedly positively impacts Coloradans living in the rural corners of our state, the urban corridors and everywhere in between.”

Majority Leader Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge, sent condolences to his family and said Bockenfeld was “an important member of the Colorado House of Representatives, and he will be missed by his many friends who have served in the legislature, past and present.” She thanked Bockenfeld for his “years of dedicated public service and commitment to his community.”

Rep. Shannon Bird, D-Westminster, served with Bockenfeld on the JBC. She told Colorado Politics she loved working with him. One of her best memories, she said, was of how much he loved his kids. His daughter is a lawyer, and he was very proud of that, and Bird said she could see the kind of dad he was, someone who loved his family unconditionally.

He reminded Bird of her own dad. “If you asked him for money, he’d say ‘no,'” but if you kept asking very nicely, it would turn to a ‘yes.’

She said that’s how Bockenfeld was with some of the important things the JBC worked on. “If you asked enough, really made your case,” he would change from a ‘no’ to a ‘yes,’ and Bird said she imagined he was the same way with his family. “My heart hurts” because of his absence, Bird said.

Rep. Rick Taggart, R-Grand Junction, replaced Bockenfeld on the JBC when his illness took him away from the Capitol. “I will forever appreciate his wisdom, his kind words to me when I took his role, and his insight,” Taggart told Colorado Politics.

“We have to digest a great deal of information, I don’t mind, but his knowledge and understanding of the culture of JBC and how important it is the six of us work together instead of making our lives miserable was immensely helpful. The sadness I have is that he suffered for so long.”

Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, who also served on JBC with Bockenfeld, noted she’s known him since his days as an Arapahoe County Commissioner when she was on the Weld County Commission. “We had a lot of robust discussions about finances and TABOR, mostly on the same side.”

As to their service on JBC, Kirkmeyer said she remembered getting calls from Bockenfeld at 7 a.m. “Barbara, we gotta stick together today!” she recalled him saying.

“We had a great camaraderie and friendship, and I enjoyed working with him,” she said.

Bockenfeld is survived by his wife, Susan, their sons, daughter and stepsons, and eight grandchildren.