He was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Indiana in 1968, but lost to Republican Edgar Whitcomb.
He served in the United States Navy during World War II as a hospital corpsman at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, California.
[2] In 1954, at the age of 26, Rock was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives as a Democrat serving in the 1955, 1959, 1961, and 1963 sessions.
In 1968, Rock won the Democratic nomination for Governor of Indiana, but lost the general election to Republican Secretary of State Edgar Whitcomb.
Rock died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on January 9, 2013, at the age of 85.