Robert Levi Rooke, a broker who became a partner in Merrill Lynch & Co. in 1928 and who dealt in stocks until a month ago, died Monday at his home in Palm Beach, Fla. A former resident of Westfield, N.J., he was 103.
The cause was complications from a stroke he suffered two weeks ago, his family said.
After answering a help-wanted advertisement, Mr. Rooke went to work for Merrill Lynch in 1919 as a bond salesman, making $50 a month. He later became a friend of Charles Merrill, the firm’s founder.
At his death Mr. Rooke was believed to be the oldest member of the New York Stock Exchange, having held a seat there since 1928.
Born in Winfield, Pa., Mr. Rooke was graduated from Bucknell University in 1913 with a degree in electrical engineering. During World War I he was an enlisted man in the Navy.
Just before and after the war he worked for General Electric Co. and Public Service Electric in New Jersey.
After joining Merrill Lynch, he advanced quickly, becoming a partner in 1928 and the firm’s exchange floor representative. He oversaw the firm’s trading during the Crash of 1929.
Mr. Rooke later founded the firm’s office in Newark but kept his seat on the New York Stock Exchange. He never fully retired, maintaining an office at the firm’s branch in Morristown, N.J., from which he dealt in stocks until a month ago.
He contributed to many causes and institutions, especially to his alma mater Bucknell, becoming a trustee emeritus in 1975. Over the years he helped build the Rooke Chapel, named in honor of his parents, as well as Bucknell’s Freas-Rooke Swimming Pool and Freas-Rooke Computer Center.
