Janice Sally (Defler) Rohe, age 91, known as Sally to family and friends passed away peacefully into the presence of Jesus, her Savior, on Sunday, October 30, 2022. Sally was born on August 4, 1931 in Buffalo, New York to Clyde and Evelyn Defler. She was one of 5 girls; Jean Schuldt, Jacqueline Hyde, Joanne Buckert, and Jessica Olsowske. The family lived in various parts of Upstate New York and Sally graduated from John Marshall High School, Rochester, NY in 1949. She worked as a Bank Teller, and was also an Administrative Asst at Sylvania, until Sally moved to Las Cruces, NM in July of 1960 after marrying the love of her life, Paul Walter Rohe.
Paul Walter Rohe was born on November 4, 1931, in Albany, MN, to Walter and Anna Rohe. There would be a total of 7 children in their family; Carl, Herb, Helen, Art, Louella, Paul, and Ruth. Walter was a German Lutheran Pastor so the family would learn to speak German at home and English outside the house. Tragedy hit the family when Paul’s father, Walter, would be killed in an automobile accident in 1944. Paul was only 13 and his brothers were off fighting in WWII, so he was sent to Concordia University, in St Paul, MN, as a boarding school student. He would eventually graduate as an apprentice pastor, working the required 2 year stint to see if he was called to be ordained. Paul figured out very quickly that he was not called to be an ordained pastor, so he was immediately drafted into the US Army and stationed out at White Sands Army Base in New Mexico working as a radar operator. After serving his draft term, Paul would work for Raytheon Corporation for over 30 years.
Paul and Sally were married 53 years until Paul's passing on April 24, 2014 in Huntsville, AL. Sally moved to Wichita, Kanas in 2015 to be closer to her family. By 2018 Sally's dementia impacted her quality of life and she was lovingly cared for by the nurses at Kansas Masonic Home and Catholic Care Center-Memory Care-Garden Walk.
Paul and Sally are survived by their children Scott (Yoli Marquez) Rohe and Susan (Steve) Innes, grandchildren Hannah (Jack) Turriff, Meghan (Kody Richardson) Innes, great grandchildren Jason and Chloe Buchan. A Memorial Service to honor both Paul and Sally will be held at 10:30am (cst) on November 19, 2022, at Asbury Church, 2801 W 15th St N, Wichita, KS, 67203. The service will be available on Live Stream through asburychurch.org.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be given to The New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Rd, Las Cruces, NM, 88011.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.MyLakeviewFuneralHome.com for the Rohe family. Memories may also be emailed to [email protected] to be kept by the family.
