1925 - March 24, 2010
Son of
Marcial Roach
and
Marie Jeanne Arabie Roach
Husband of
Masil Jane Lagneaux Roach
Father of
Bonnie Roach Warner
Michelle Roach Meche
Nelson Roach
Robert Calvin Roach
Grandfather of
Kristin Warner
Joseph Warner
Diane Warner
Siblings
Marie Amante Roach
Yolande (Roach) Sonnier
Louise Lula (Roach) Shelton
Joseph Chester Roach
Rosella "Rosia" Roach
Ethel (Roach) Hutchinson
Wilma (Roach) LeBlanc
Eloise (Roach) Sonnier
Genevieve "Joannie" (Roach) Hulin
Obituary
Funeral services will be held on Sunday, March 28, 2010 at a 2:00 P.M. Service in La Chapelle de Martin & Castille for Calvin J. Roach, age 84, who passed away peacefully on Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at Cornerstone Village South in Lafayette.
Interment will be in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery.Deacon Jim Davis will conduct the funeral services.
Survivors include his wife, Masil Lagneaux Roach; his three children, Bonnie Warner and her husband, Dr. Ronnie Warner of Memphis, Tennessee; Michelle Meche and her husband, Chris Meche of Lafayette and Nelson Roach of Longview, Texas; three grandchildren, Kristin Warner, Joseph Warner and Diane Warner; two sisters, Lula Shelton and her husband, John Shelton of Mire and Joannie Hulin of Mire.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Marcial Roach and the former, Marie Jeanne Arabie; one son, Robert Calvin Roach; his sisters, Yolande Sonnier, Wilma LeBlanc, Eloise Sonnier and Ethel Hutchinson.
Calvin J. Roach was born in Rayne, Louisiana on April 5, 1925, lived in Mire and for the last nine years was a resident of Lafayette. Although Mr. Roach spells his name in the Anglo fashion his grandfather spelled it in the french form - Roche. His father was a farmer, so it was not unusual for Calvin to find himself working in the cotton fields near Bosco and Mire, better known as Marais Bouleur. Like so many others in South Louisiana, when Calvin Roach began public school, he spoke only French. He graduated from Rayne High School in 1941. He proudly served his country as a member of the United States Navy from 1942-1946 in the Armed Guard as a gunner on board merchant ships that carried supplies and ammunition in the Pacific during WW II.While attending SLI, Calvin worked part-time in the sugar mills of south Louisiana as a sugar chemist. He graduated from SLI with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1951 and was very proud to be a member of the Society of Professional Engineers.
Mr. Roach was first employed by General Electric in Massachusetts and New York, then General Motors in California. While at Westinghouse, he was Product Manager of the Boeing Space Center in Seattle, Washington.
He then moved back to Shreveport to work for the Sperry Rand Corporation as Operations Manager at the ammunition plant, which supplied 150mm artillery shells and plastic explosives used in the Vietnam War.
Dr. Shane K. Bernard, author of the book The Cajuns: Americanization of a People said, "Calvin J. Roach, a Cajun from Mire, refused to be called a "coonass" by his employer, and, in the process made Cajun History when a U.S. Federal court sided with him declaring that Cajuns were protected from discrimination by federal law." He was inducted into the Living Legends by the Acadian Museum of Erath on May 18, 2002.
Today, we honor Mr. Roach for his fortitude in protecting our Cajun cultural rights. He was truly loved by his family and was a great husband, father and friend and will be fondly missed by everyone.
Mr. Roach brought to court a very important 20th Century issue: Are the Cajuns a federally recognized group subject to protection under the Civil Rights Act? Thankfully federal Judge Edwin Hunter ruled that they were protected in the case of Roach v. Dresser Industries, 494 F. Supp. 215 (W.D.LA. 1980).
Martin & Castille, 330 St. Landry.-Lafayette, Louisiana was in charge of services.
1925 - March 24, 2010
Son of
Marcial Roach
and
Marie Jeanne Arabie Roach
Husband of
Masil Jane Lagneaux Roach
Father of
Bonnie Roach Warner
Michelle Roach Meche
Nelson Roach
Robert Calvin Roach
Grandfather of
Kristin Warner
Joseph Warner
Diane Warner
Siblings
Marie Amante Roach
Yolande (Roach) Sonnier
Louise Lula (Roach) Shelton
Joseph Chester Roach
Rosella "Rosia" Roach
Ethel (Roach) Hutchinson
Wilma (Roach) LeBlanc
Eloise (Roach) Sonnier
Genevieve "Joannie" (Roach) Hulin
Obituary
Funeral services will be held on Sunday, March 28, 2010 at a 2:00 P.M. Service in La Chapelle de Martin & Castille for Calvin J. Roach, age 84, who passed away peacefully on Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at Cornerstone Village South in Lafayette.
Interment will be in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery.Deacon Jim Davis will conduct the funeral services.
Survivors include his wife, Masil Lagneaux Roach; his three children, Bonnie Warner and her husband, Dr. Ronnie Warner of Memphis, Tennessee; Michelle Meche and her husband, Chris Meche of Lafayette and Nelson Roach of Longview, Texas; three grandchildren, Kristin Warner, Joseph Warner and Diane Warner; two sisters, Lula Shelton and her husband, John Shelton of Mire and Joannie Hulin of Mire.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Marcial Roach and the former, Marie Jeanne Arabie; one son, Robert Calvin Roach; his sisters, Yolande Sonnier, Wilma LeBlanc, Eloise Sonnier and Ethel Hutchinson.
Calvin J. Roach was born in Rayne, Louisiana on April 5, 1925, lived in Mire and for the last nine years was a resident of Lafayette. Although Mr. Roach spells his name in the Anglo fashion his grandfather spelled it in the french form - Roche. His father was a farmer, so it was not unusual for Calvin to find himself working in the cotton fields near Bosco and Mire, better known as Marais Bouleur. Like so many others in South Louisiana, when Calvin Roach began public school, he spoke only French. He graduated from Rayne High School in 1941. He proudly served his country as a member of the United States Navy from 1942-1946 in the Armed Guard as a gunner on board merchant ships that carried supplies and ammunition in the Pacific during WW II.While attending SLI, Calvin worked part-time in the sugar mills of south Louisiana as a sugar chemist. He graduated from SLI with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1951 and was very proud to be a member of the Society of Professional Engineers.
Mr. Roach was first employed by General Electric in Massachusetts and New York, then General Motors in California. While at Westinghouse, he was Product Manager of the Boeing Space Center in Seattle, Washington.
He then moved back to Shreveport to work for the Sperry Rand Corporation as Operations Manager at the ammunition plant, which supplied 150mm artillery shells and plastic explosives used in the Vietnam War.
Dr. Shane K. Bernard, author of the book The Cajuns: Americanization of a People said, "Calvin J. Roach, a Cajun from Mire, refused to be called a "coonass" by his employer, and, in the process made Cajun History when a U.S. Federal court sided with him declaring that Cajuns were protected from discrimination by federal law." He was inducted into the Living Legends by the Acadian Museum of Erath on May 18, 2002.
Today, we honor Mr. Roach for his fortitude in protecting our Cajun cultural rights. He was truly loved by his family and was a great husband, father and friend and will be fondly missed by everyone.
Mr. Roach brought to court a very important 20th Century issue: Are the Cajuns a federally recognized group subject to protection under the Civil Rights Act? Thankfully federal Judge Edwin Hunter ruled that they were protected in the case of Roach v. Dresser Industries, 494 F. Supp. 215 (W.D.LA. 1980).
Martin & Castille, 330 St. Landry.-Lafayette, Louisiana was in charge of services.
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