HOULTON and PORTLAND – Jessie A. Roach, 91, passed away peacefully April 9, 2006. She was born Dec. 2, 1914, at Linneus, the daughter of William G. and Lela S. (Bragdon) Adams. Jessie graduated from Houlton High School, attended Ricker College, Colby College and was a graduate of the new England Deaconess School of Nursing in Boston, Mass. On June 30, 1942, she married Asa H. Roach of Merrill, whom she met at Colby College. After her husband’s service in the U.S. Army during World War II, they settled back in Houlton for the remainder of their 55 years of marriage. She was a member of the St. Mary of the Visitation Church, the Houlton Music Club, the Houlton Council of Catholic Women, the Madigan Hospital Auxiliary and the Houlton Regional Auxiliary. She practiced nursing at both the Madigan and Aroostook Hospitals, but her main focus was her devoted care of her family. Jessie is survived by four children, Mary Putney and her husband, Thomas, of Middletown, Del., Dennis Roach of St. Louis, Mo., Stephen Roach and his wife, Wendy, of Newton Upper Falls, Mass., Eileen Erwin and her husband, James, of Yarmouth; five grandchildren, Kathleen Bloom of Middletown, Del., Robert Somerville Jr. of New York City, N.Y., Jessie, Sarah and James Erwin of Yarmouth; two great-grandchildren, Asa and Alta Bloom of Middletown, Del.; many nieces and nephews, several cousins. She was predeceased by her husband, in 1997; her parents; and three brothers, Clifton K., Mahlon T. and Erwin M. Adams. Friends may call 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at the Dunn Funeral Home with the recitation of the rosary following. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Mary of the Visitation Church with the Rev. Eddy Morin celebrant. Interment will be in the St. Mary’s Cemetery. Gifts may be made in Jessie’s memory to St. Mary’s Church or the Houlton Health Service Foundation, care of Dunn Funeral Home, P.O. Box 127, Houlton, ME 04730.
JESSIE A. ROACH
