Roach, Catherine (Markham) 1847-1916

MARKHAM, ROACH, COONAN, DAILY, HAND, MARTIN, BECK, PENDER, LARKIN

Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 11/4/2003 at 20:48:19

Emmetsburg Democrat
Emmetsburg, Palo Alto, Iowa
Wednesday, February 2, 1916

Catherine Markham Roach

THE LATE MRS. MICHAEL ROACH
The Funeral Was Held Friday, Services Conducted at Assumption Church

Last week we made brief mention of the rather unexpected death of Mrs. Michael Roach, which occurred at her home in this city Tuesday evening of last week. The funeral was held Friday. The services were conducted at Assumption church, Rev. W. Veit celebrating a requiem high mass. There was a large attendance of old friends and neighbors, despite the inclemency of the weather. The day was exceptionally cold. The pall bearers were F.P. Brady, J.P. Jennings, James P. Jones, Edward McNally, Thos. Cullen and W.I. Branagan. The burial was in St. John's cemetery.

Catherine Markham was born at Kurlfin, in the county of Clare, Ireland, May 5, 1847. When she was four years old her parents came to the United States. They lived in the vicinity of Iowa Falls, New York until 1855, when they came west and settled in Clayton county, this state. Miss Markham was united in marriage at Elkader, Iowa to Mr. Michael Roach, in October, 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Roach resided in Clayton county until 1885, when they came to Palo Alto county and settled on a farm in Independence township. In 1895 they bought a farm in Kossuth county, a short distance north of Whittemore. In December, 1901, they came to Emmetsburg and bought a home in the Third Ward, where they subsequently resided. Mrs. Roach is survived by her husband, two sons and seven daughters. One son, Clement, owns a drug store at Rock Rapids, Iowa and the second son, Earl, owns a barber shop at Wyonet, Illinois. The daughters are Mrs. W.H. Coonan, Mrs. Peter Daily, Mrs. Celia Hand, Mrs. J.R. Martin, and Mrs. Curt Beck of Emmetsburg, Mrs. James Pender of Waterloo, and Mrs. Wm. Pender of Dubuque. All the members of the family were present at the funeral. There are also two sisters, Mrs. P. Larkin of Denver, Colorado, and Mrs. John Roach of Elkader. An only living brother, James Markham, lives at Elkader, Iowa. Among the relatives who came from a distance to attend the funeral were Michael, Joseph, and William Roach and Misses Bid and Cloe Roach, all of Elkader.

The death of Mrs. Roach removes from local domestic circles one of the most esteemed women of our community. Like most of the good, old ladies of her race and her time, she toiled hard during her early life and her more vigorous years and she came to Emmetsburg to spend the closing days of her long and active career among the members of her respected family and her devoted friends. She seemed rugged and hearty and for twelve years she and her good husband enjoyed the peace and the comforts of retirement in their substantial home on the south side. Their yearnings for worldly things were modest and their important cares were few. When the weather was pleasant, they were, on week days, frequent attendants at the morning masses at the Assumption church, wisely and fervently seeking, in their declining years, the spiritual nourishment which, from childhood, had given them strength and hope in many a trying hour. Mrs. Roach was always lively and pleasant and she believed in looking on the bright side of life. She had a word of good cheer for the discouraged and was every ready to give a helping hand to those who needed assistance. She was prized as a neighbor at Elkader and Whittemore long before coming to Emmetsburg. She was a home woman and she continued, until death called her, the frugal habits she had uninterruptedly pursued through life....