Rev. Barbara Anne Roche

ROCHE, Rev. Barbara Anne died Saturday May 8th after a year long decline resulting from a head injury. She was born on August 28, 1934 in Long Beach, CA to Agnes Louise Elford Roche and Claire Peter Roche. Maternal grandparents were William Henry Elford and Metta Marie Schwartz Elford. Paternal grandparents were William Henry Roche and Mary Elizabeth (Lizzy) Smith Roche.

Although Barbara was born in Long Beach, CA she spent her childhood in the copper mining town of Ruth, NV. She graduated White Pine County High School in Ely, NV 1952, Stanford University, BA 1956, Princeton Theological Seminary, MDiv. 1960, and San Francisco Theological Seminary, D.Min. 1984. While at Princeton she put one finger on the globe and another finger half-way around the world and applied for an ecumenical scholarship to spend a year at United Theological College in Bangalore, India. Thus began a life-long love of travel to exotic and interesting places including a trip to Antarctica when she was 80.

Her life work was in the Presbyterian Church. She was ordained as an elder in the Edgewater Presbyterian Church, Chicago, IL in 1968, as a Minister of the Word and Sacrament at the Chicago Presbytery in 1974. She served as a Director of Religious Education at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Spokane, WA; as an Area Representative for the Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations (COEMAR), Women’s Program, North Central Area, Chicago, IL; as a Director of Student Services and Dean of Students at Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, CA; and as Editor of the Presbyterian Women’s CONCERN Magazine, New York, NY. When the Presbyterian Church moved their headquarters to Louisville, KY she was chosen to be the editor of the new women’s magazine HORIZONS.

She loved a challenge: among them were setting up a workshop on ending nuclear weapons and inviting the physicists from the Lawrence Livermore Labs, Protestant and Roman Catholic theologians, and political activists. Under her leadership a group of women were sent to South Africa to study apartheid and their findings were published in HORIZONS. This pleased Desmond Tutu so much that he wrote an article for the magazine. Working as a tutor in a disadvantaged school, she raised the money to give the school a library. She spoke truth to power. The Graduate Theological Union Women’s Center named her Woman of the Decade in 1975. Under several different guises—journalist, consultant, clergy---she toured the world, attending The World Council of Churches Assembly in Australia, the NGO Fourth World Conference on Women Meeting in China, various church conferences and ecumenical workshops.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents and is survived by her sister, Georgia Gleason (James), a niece Katharine Gleason (Patrick) and a nephew Patrick Gleason (Evelyn), two grandnephews James Gurian and Irvin Garay a grandniece Anna Gurian, and many loyal friends. She is also survived by her much-loved cat, Cooper.

Barbara has been cremated and her ashes will be spread at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico. A memorial service will be held at 2 pm Friday May 21 at the Pavilion at Camp Cedar Ridge, 4010 Old Routt Road, Louisville, KY 40299. Memorial contributions can be made to Ghost Ranch, 280 Private Rd, Abiquiu, NM 87510; Princeton Theological Seminary, 64 Mercer St, Princeton, NJ 08542; and Central Presbyterian Church, 318 W. Kentucky St. Louisville, KY 40203.