Catherine (Markham) Roche 1847-1916

ROCHE, ROACH, ROACHE, MARKHAM, COONAN, DAILY, HAND, MARTIN, BECK, PENDER

Posted By: Joe Conroy (email)
Date: 8/31/2010 at 18:20:01

The Emmetsburg Democrat
Emmetsburg, Iowa
2 Feb 1916
Page 4

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. Brnagan. The burial was in St. John's cemetery.

Catherine Markham was born at Kurifin, 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 1844 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 time. 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 ever ready to give a helping hand to those who needed assistance. She was prized as a neighbor in Elkader and at 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. Mr. Roach was also a home man and he gave the closest of attention to her comforts and her needs. Mrs. Roach was a worthy woman. She never neglected the weighty responsibilities that were hers in the rearing of a large family of sons and daughters. Two worthy sons, who now have homes of their own, and seven married daughters, who stand high among the honored women of Emmetsburg and other places, survive to cherish the many virtues of the kind, affectionate, benevolent old lady who has been called to her eternal reward.

To the bereft husband who feels his loss very keenly, and to the sons and daughters, who can never forget the love, the patience and the zeal of one of the best of mothers, the sympathy of a sorrowing community is extended.