Roxanne Parks Hernandez

Roxanne Parks Hernandez died peacefully at home on August 12, following an 11-year struggle with metastatic colon cancer. The fourth of six children, Roxanne was born on October 10, 1957. She grew up in Louisville, Ohio, where her family lived in a farmhouse, and also spent a few years in West Palm Beach, Florida. As a girl, she participated in 4-H, aced her classes in home economics, and wanted to start a family of her own. She got her wish in 1976, when one of her younger sisters posted a personals ad in an interservice tabloid. She received a deluge of letters in response, too many, and allocated several to Roxanne. One of these was from Nelson Hernandez, an Army paratrooper who was bewitched from the first moment he saw her photograph. Sensing that rivals for her attention might be converging from all over the world, he promptly drove from North Carolina to be the first suitor to meet her in person. The couple married six months later. Last year they celebrated their 45th anniversary. Roxanne had a powerful instinct to care for anyone in need who crossed her path, whether children, pets, or adults in trouble. Her greatest joy in life was spending time with her children and grandchildren. She had boundless patience, energy, and love for them. After a brilliant opening act as a mother to two boys, she played a pivotal role in the early years of her four grandchildren, spending many hours with them as a hands-on caregiver. To her final days, she would light up when she saw them, forgetting her own illness. Roxanne was always at heart a believer in God, and formalized her commitment to Christ with her baptism in 2016. She had a sincere faith that God was watching over her, even in the most trying times. This gave her comfort to the end of a life that was all too short to those she leaves behind.