Obituary of Eugene Ross Roache

ROACHE, Eugene Ross, age 91, West Head’s oldest resident, Eugene Ross Roache answered the Good Shepherd’s call “Come Home, Come Home, it’s Suppertime” shortly after midnight on Monday, April 1, 2013. He was born in West Head on May 18, 1921, the 4th son of Leonard and Ada (Townsend) Roache. On February 2, 1948, he married Sarah May Nickerson. They began married life, like many others, in the “Stephens” house at the end of West Head. Soon they were blessed with two sons, Claude Myers (Susan Hicks) and Edsel James (Ruth Townsend). In the mid 1950s Eugene and Sarah moved “up the road” to the “Quentin Stephens” house and added two more children to their family, Melda Jean (Glenn Clark) and Francis Eugene (Wendy Foote). Eugene and Sarah were blessed with many grandchildren, Jason and Darcy Roache; Cindy, Jonathan and Timothy Roache, Jeremy Clark (Dana Van Allen), Allison Clark (Edward McGarvey), Maria Roache and great-grandchildren Nathan and Caleb Roache and Isaac McGarvey. His heart was broken with the death of his daughter-in-law, Ceinwen Margaret Rose Roache in 1993, his wife of fifty years, Sarah May Roache in 1998 and his treasured grandson, Jonathan Edsel Roache in 2001. Eugene was no ordinary grandfather. He let grandkids tag along with him doing things ordinary grandfathers thought were too dangerous or too dirty, but not Gramp. Adventure and Gramp seemed to go hand-in-hand. Eugene was a brother to the late Edwin, Mervin, Ernest, Keith, Edith and Elaine. He is survived by his wife, Julia Roache, sister Lorraine (Albert) Townsend and brother Herman Roache, sisters-in-law Margaret Roache and Diane Roache. He will be remembered by his many nieces and nephews and all those who grew up in West Head. Eugene spent his life as an inshore fisherman. He began with a dory and finished with the Cape Islander, Melda Francis II. He loved his life on the water. On the land he dabbled in gardening and raising sheep, pigs, hens, rabbits and goats. Once retired, the vegetable garden grew bigger and he became the “perfect salesman”. He got great pleasure riding his 4-wheeler across the bog to pick cranberries with his dogs Sookie and Duffy trailing behind. Over the last few years, his son Edsel picked the berries and Eugene cleaned and sold them to his loyal customers. He became an avid reader late in life and remembered every detail. Another hobby emerged in his eighties as he took up painting. His masterpiece was a map of West Head showing the names of every family, house, barn, toilet and fence from his childhood and others that he had only heard about. He had always been a poet, but ventured into writing books about the people and places of long ago including People & Tales, Then & Now, The Great Revival, Growing Up in the Thirties, Short Stories and Poems From a Fisherman’s Heart and Fisherman & Farmer. He even tried his hand at science fiction with Jake’s Dream. In recent months and in failing health he insisted that he had lived a long and satisfying life and everybody had to die sometime. He had a deep relationship with Jesus Christ and was as ready as anyone could be to step from this life into the next. Over his lifetime he read the Bible from cover to cover many times and loved to discuss complicated passages from Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Faithfully, every night, for at least sixty years he prayed for every family member by name, that God would keep them in His care. He was faithful until the end and was greeted with, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Eugene’s family invites you to join them for a time of sharing at Huskilson’s Funeral Home, Lockeport from 2-4 & 7-9 p.m. Friday. Funeral service will be at the Lockeport Pentecostal Church on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at 1 p.m. Interment Lockeport Cemetery. As expressions of sympathy, memorial donations to Gideons International would be appreciated. Messages of condolence, memories, stories and photos may be sent to meldaclark@hotmail.com. Eugene is now in a wonderful place with blue skies, gentle breezes and smooth seas. The fisherman has gone home.