Jake was the sixth of nine known children born to first-generation immigrants from Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Jacob Peter Heinrich "Peter" and Wilhelmina Katharina "Minnie" (Niesche) Rohde, and arrived in their seventh year of marriage. He was baptized into St. John's Lutheran Church in Anchor, Illinois on 01 February 1890, the same church to which his parents and grandparents belonged as charter members.

He moved to White Post, Indiana with his family as a child and then similarly on to Nolan, Oregon in 1905, where the Rohde family homesteaded; they joined his uncle Reimer there, who moved his family to Pendleton, Oregon in 1888.

He worked alongside his parents and siblings on the difficult job of creating a profitable wheat farm, starting things with a quarter section (160 acres). The family farm is now recognized by the State of Oregon as a Century Farm and boasts thousands of acres, all of which dedicated to wheat production.

He later enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 and left for Fort Lewis, Washington to learn battle vehicle mechanics before deploying to Europe to fight in WWI. He served honorably and his uniform, medals, and other valuables from this experience are treasured by his descendants.

He was dedicated to his labors and continuously worked to better himself, earning a correspondence diploma in applied electrical engineering on 11 February 1927 at the age of 37.

Following his brother Fred's death from sickness on 02 April 1936, he took responsibility for Fred's widow, Eileen Beatrice (Snyder) Rohde, and his three young nephews by asking for her hand in marriage. Their wedding took place at Peace Lutheran Church in Pendleton, Oregon on 19 August 1937. She was his first and only wife.

Jake and Eileen had one son together, Glenn Louis Rohde, who eventually took over the family farm and personally managed it the rest of his life. Glenn was born in Pendleton, Oregon on 30 July 1938.

Jake enjoyed physical challenges and often showed his strength by grabbing onto a wooden power pole and lifting up his body so that it extended straight out to the side. He would hold this position for as long as he could.

Jake died at the age of 52 from shock brought on by injuries he sustained after falling from a power pole on his farm. He was introducing electricity to his grain elevator and lost his footing at the top of the pole. He walked away from the fall and sat down on a bench near a guest house, where he was discovered and rushed to St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton, Oregon, which was located a little over 14 miles away by dirt road. He was pronounced dead at St. Anthony's on 23 June 1942, leaving a twice-widowed wife and four children.

Jake was remembered by those who knew him as a particularly compassionate father and husband, regularly attending his sons' basketball, football, and other games.

Jake's son, Glenn Louis Rohde, provided a saliva sample through the 23andMe kit on 22 December 2012 and it was revealed that Jake belonged to y-Haplogroup N1c1, an N1c subgroup. N1c is an offshoot of Haplogroup N, which originated in southeastern Asia about 20,000 years ago. About 12,000 years ago several branches of N, including N1c, began expanding north and west to reach their current distributions across northern Eurasia.