YREKA, Calif. – James Taylor Rock, 68, of Yreka, Calif., passed away June 25, 2010, in a Medford, Ore., hospital almost 11 months after he had been diagnosed with throat cancer.

He was born on March 6, 1942, in Abilene, the son of Kenneth Melvin Rock and Marjorie Taylor Rock. He was educated in the Abilene school system, graduating from Abilene High School in 1960. He received his A. B. degree in political science and sociology from Fort Hays State College in 1964. He earned his M.S. in sociology from Fort Hays in 1966, and received a M.A. in anthropology from the University of Arizona in 1973.

He was an active Boy Scout in the Coronado Council, a member of Phi Alpha Theta history honorary society and Sigma Phi Epsilon social fraternity.

Jim worked as assistant manager for A.L. Duckwall Stores Co., North Glenn, Colo., taught at Wisconsin State University and the University of Arizona and worked for Antelope House Project and Arizona Archaeological Center, National Park Service. He moved to Yreka, Calif., in 1975, working for Klamath National Forest, U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was a registered professional archaeologist and historian. In 2002, after retiring as an archaeologist and cultural resource specialist for the Klamath National Forest, U.S. Department of Agriculture, he founded Rock Consulting.

On Sept. 8, 1979, he married Mary Ellen Blair of Charlotte, N.C. They made their home, with their beloved personality-plus cats, for nearly 31 years in Yreka, where Mary Ellen has been a longtime associate and subsequent proprietor of The Book Store, 223 Miner Street. She survives.

Other survivors include his brother, Kenneth W. Rock and wife Mercedes of Fort Collins, Colo.; a nephew, Kenneth T., a niece, Laurel Penrod and her husband Drew, and their three children; and cousins, Gweneth Fair Ellis and her husband Willis and Willet T. Fair.

A memorial service in Jim Rock’s memory will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 31, at the Yreka Community Hall, 810 North Oregon Street.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to Siskiyou County Museum, 910 South Main Street, Yreka, CA 96097.

This obituary was written and paid for by the family of James Taylor Rock.