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Martha "Marty" Taylor Roach of Honolulu, Hawaii, died peacefully at Straub Hospital, Honolulu, surrounded by her family on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. Marty was born in Bowling Green, Ohio, on June 3, 1926, to Carrie Plunkett Taylor and Francis Emmett Taylor. She grew up with her parents and younger brother Jim on a farm in Berryville, Arkansas. She entered college at Hendrix in Conway, Arkansas. After transferring to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where her mother had been a professor, she met and married Andrew Jackson Roach of Eldorado, Texas, on January 14, 1945. Marty and Andrew completed their bachelor's degrees at Michigan State University and Andrew began a 27-year career in the U.S. Army. In 1961, after they both graduated from the Japanese language program at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, they moved their family to Tokyo, where Andrew spent most of the rest of his army career assigned to the U.S. Embassy. An avid reader and seeker of knowledge, Marty earned two master's degrees and became a fluent Japanese speaker. She immersed herself in Japanese culture, art and literature. Marty and Andrew greatly enjoyed their time in foreign service, where they made lifelong friends from around the world. Marty loved young children, and while living in Tokyo taught kindergarten and first grade. She and Andrew moved to Honolulu in 1973. Marty's love of art led her to study at the Honolulu Museum of Art, where she volunteered as a docent. At age 61, she earned a Doctor of Psychology degree from the School of Professional Psychology at Forest Institute in Honolulu. Marty was a descendant of Mayflower passengers Peter Brown and Francis Cooke and a passionate student of early American history. She cared deeply about human and women's rights. She and Andrew cooked for a homeless shelter for many years and raised funds tirelessly to build schools in Cambodia, the birthplace of their granddaughter Monique Brousseau. In addition to Monique, Marty is survived by daughters Andrea (Michael) Waxman of Milwaukee, Karen Brousseau of Honolulu, and Leslie Roach-Laing (Ian Laing), of Kailua; granddaughter Naomi Waxman of Chicago; grandson Kyle Roach-Laing of Kailua; and niece Debbie Taylor of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Visitation and a Memorial service will be held at 2:30 and 3:00 p.m., respectively, Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at the Parish of St. Clement, 1515 Wilder Avenue, Honolulu.
Martha "Marty" Taylor Roach of Honolulu, Hawaii, died peacefully at Straub Hospital, Honolulu, surrounded by her family on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. Marty was born in Bowling Green, Ohio, on June 3, 1926, to Carrie Plunkett Taylor and Francis Emmett Taylor. She grew up with her parents and younger brother Jim on a farm in Berryville, Arkansas. She entered college at Hendrix in Conway, Arkansas. After transferring to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where her mother had been a professor, she met and married Andrew Jackson Roach of Eldorado, Texas, on January 14, 1945. Marty and Andrew completed their bachelor's degrees at Michigan State University and Andrew began a 27-year career in the U.S. Army. In 1961, after they both graduated from the Japanese language program at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, they moved their family to Tokyo, where Andrew spent most of the rest of his army career assigned to the U.S. Embassy. An avid reader and seeker of knowledge, Marty earned two master's degrees and became a fluent Japanese speaker. She immersed herself in Japanese culture, art and literature. Marty and Andrew greatly enjoyed their time in foreign service, where they made lifelong friends from around the world. Marty loved young children, and while living in Tokyo taught kindergarten and first grade. She and Andrew moved to Honolulu in 1973. Marty's love of art led her to study at the Honolulu Museum of Art, where she volunteered as a docent. At age 61, she earned a Doctor of Psychology degree from the School of Professional Psychology at Forest Institute in Honolulu. Marty was a descendant of Mayflower passengers Peter Brown and Francis Cooke and a passionate student of early American history. She cared deeply about human and women's rights. She and Andrew cooked for a homeless shelter for many years and raised funds tirelessly to build schools in Cambodia, the birthplace of their granddaughter Monique Brousseau. In addition to Monique, Marty is survived by daughters Andrea (Michael) Waxman of Milwaukee, Karen Brousseau of Honolulu, and Leslie Roach-Laing (Ian Laing), of Kailua; granddaughter Naomi Waxman of Chicago; grandson Kyle Roach-Laing of Kailua; and niece Debbie Taylor of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Visitation and a Memorial service will be held at 2:30 and 3:00 p.m., respectively, Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at the Parish of St. Clement, 1515 Wilder Avenue, Honolulu.Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased
