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In 1951, Rockwell was working in a polka band in Grand Island, [[Nebraska]], on radio station KMMJ. Lawrence Welk was in the area and urged Rockwell to audition with his trumpet for the Welk orchestra, which was then on tour in St. Joseph. Rockwell took the train to St. Joseph. With his family and friends in the audience cheering him, Rockwell was hired by Welk. He wore a crew cut and sang "Sunny Side of the Street." In his eleven years with Welk, his signature song was "I Love Girls," which he repeated thereafter during the run of ''The Lawrence Welk Show''. Rockwell appeared for the last time on the program in 1961 and the next year struck out on his own. He played in [[Las Vegas]] and [[Reno]], [[Nevada]], then back to St. Joseph, on cruise ships, at the Wigwam resort in Sun City in Maricopa County, [[Arizona]], and with Steve Cooper's band in [[Chicago]]. He was featured on the [[Public Broadcasting Service]] special ''Lawrence Welk's TV Treasures''.<ref name=bio/>
In 1951, Rockwell was working in a polka band in Grand Island, [[Nebraska]], on radio station KMMJ. Lawrence Welk was in the area and urged Rockwell to audition with his trumpet for the Welk orchestra, which was then on tour in St. Joseph. Rockwell took the train to St. Joseph. With his family and friends in the audience cheering him, Rockwell was hired by Welk. He wore a crew cut and sang "Sunny Side of the Street." In his eleven years with Welk, his signature song was "I Love Girls," which he repeated thereafter during the run of ''The Lawrence Welk Show''. Rockwell appeared for the last time on the program in 1961 and the next year struck out on his own. He played in [[Las Vegas]] and [[Reno]], [[Nevada]], then back to St. Joseph, on cruise ships, at the Wigwam resort in Sun City in Maricopa County, [[Arizona]], and with Steve Cooper's band in [[Chicago]]. He was featured on the [[Public Broadcasting Service]] special ''Lawrence Welk's TV Treasures''.<ref name=bio/>
Rockwell and his wife, who died in 2000, had two children, a daughter Wynoma, and a son, Jeffrey, who is deceased. Rockwell died in Sun City at the age of ninety. He is interred beside his wife and son at St. Joseph Memorial Park.<ref name=bio/>
Rockwell and his wife, who died in 2000, had two children, a daughter Wynoma, and a son, Jeffrey, who is deceased. Rockwell died in Sun City at the age of ninety. He is interred in St. Joseph.<ref name=bio/>
==References==
==References==