John Francis Everard Roche

April 11, 1935 - April 16, 2016

John Francis Everard Roche April 11, 1935 – April 16, 2016 John Francis Everard Roche passed away surrounded by his family on April 16, 2016 due to complications of Alzheimer’s disease. John was born at home in Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada, a small mining town approximately 700 miles north of the U.S. border. He was the youngest of seven children of Maurice A. Roche and Enid E. (Cahoon) Roche. As a teenager John attended St. Paul’s College in Winnipeg, followed by Engineering School at the University of Manitoba. It was there that he met his forever love Carol on the dance floor at a Science/Engineering party. They have been together ever since and were still dancing until January 2016. John and Carol were married on December 26, 1957 and were married over 58 years. When John was drafted they moved to Augusta, Georgia where John served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a teletype instructor at Fort Gordon. He enjoyed watching the Master’s tournaments and seeing President Dwight D. Eisenhower there. In 1959 it was back to college in Winnipeg where their first two sons were born and then the family moved to Napa, California in 1962. Another son and daughter joined the family there. John was given a position with the City of Napa Public Works/Engineering Department almost immediately upon on arriving here. While with the City, he was a Director of the City Employees Assoc. and longtime President of the City of Napa Employees Golf Assoc. He served the people of Napa for 37 years, retiring in 1999. Although he was offered many jobs elsewhere, John continued to work in Napa in order to spend the maximum amount of time with his family. He was a little league coach, Cubmaster of Troop 191 (Brown’s Valley) and also assisted with Boy Scouts Troop 91 camping trips. He rarely missed a baseball, basketball or football game, gymnastics or music event where his kids participated. He was also instrumental in the basketball courts and poles being installed at Brown’s Valley School and worked tirelessly to help design and redevelop the playing fields and irrigation system at St. Apollinaris School. He was a very devoted dad. John also attended Napa College receiving degrees in Science and Real Estate. He was a Realtor for 25 years, first with Lowell Black Realtors and then with Coldwell Banker Brokers of the Valley. He enjoyed helping clients develop their properties and improving their investment portfolios. John was very involved with the St. Apollinaris Men’s Club and St. A’s 300 Club for many years. He was a long time member, 4th Degree Knight and Grand Knight of the Leo T. Maher Assembly 2270 of the Knights of Columbus. He was also a longtime member of the Vallejo Moose Lodge (they held great dances), and more recently the Napa Moose Lodge. He was also a longtime President of the Napa Valley Ballroom Dancers, and was also a member and Big Sir of the Napa Sirs 65. In addition to a lifetime of enjoying golf, John also enjoyed curling and bowling league in the early days, hiking and outdoor activities and was Captain of the Napa Dancers Bocce team until September 2015. John and Carol travelled extensively, eventually to 23 countries, enjoyed many cruises and spent time in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico each winter for over 20 years. John was predeceased by his mother and father, his brother Maurice and his sister Jeanette and their spouses. He is survived by his sister, Sister Catherine RCSJ (93), his brother Bob (91) and also his sisters Elizabeth (85) and Caroline (83). He is also survived by his wife Carol, son Jeff (Veronica), son Craig (John), son Cory (Melodie) and daughter Marissa. He is also survived by two grandsons Collin and Quinlan, numerous nieces, nephews and cousins, his foster grandkids Daniel, Alyssa, Nick and Nathan, and last but not least his dog Parker. We all love John and will miss him forever. The family wishes to express their thanks to Dr. Jonathan Hernandez (KP Napa), Cal Fire and the Dry Creek-Lokoya Firefighters, Napa Paramedics, AMR and to the doctors and staff of KP Hospital Vallejo 5th Floor. Thanks also to the staff at Aegis Napa, his home for the last three months, and especially to Mario, his favorite caregiver, to Collabria Napa hospice, and to caregivers Nancy, Kizzy and Susan from Hearts That Matter who were with him at the end. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 2 pm on Saturday, April 30, 2016 at St. Apollinaris Church at 3700 Lassen Street Napa CA, followed by a celebration of John’s life at the Napa Elks Lodge at 2840 Soscol Avenue Napa CA. In lieu of flowers please consider donating to Alzheimer’s Association North Bay at 1211 N. Dutton Ave. Suite A, Santa Rosa CA 95401 to assist in finding ways to treat and eliminate this debilitating disease. Memories and notes of sympathy may be shared at claffeyandrota.com.