John D. Rockerduck - Howard Rockerduck

Howard Rockerduck is the father of John D. Rockerduck. Howard was created by Don Rosa and used in two stories - "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck: Raider of the Copper Hill" (Uncle Scrooge #288) and "Of Ducks and Dimes and Destinies" (Uncle Scrooge #297). In The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Howard acts as one of Scrooge McDuck's many early mentors - others include Sir Quackly McDuck's ghost and a young Theodore Roosevelt.

Howard Rockerduck was born poor, but worked his way to the top and became a very wealthy man, and was helped by a "lucky strike" when he prospected for gold. As shown in "Of Ducks...", he was in Glasgow in 1877, looking for a woman, and threw some American coins to some poor children. One of these coins was the Number One Dime. Shortly after, Rockerduck got so scared by the behaviour of a Scottish woman (actually Magica De Spell in disguise) that he went home to the USA. Magica's interference would also indirectly result in the conception of John D. Rockerduck, as Howard gave up on Scottish girls and instead focused his attention towards England in the hopes of finding a bride, to which he would ultimately be successful.

He was next seen in Anaconda, Montana, in 1884, where he met the young Scrooge McDuck, who tried to establish himself as a prospector. Rockerduck, now a family man, saw his younger self in Scrooge, and taught him how to be a prospector. Later, he helped Scrooge make a juridical claim to the Anaconda Copper Mine, which were owned by Marcus Daly and some rich investors. Scrooge later learned that Rockerduck himself was among these investors.