Deirdre Roche
- Published: April 10, 2014
Deirdre Roche, of Bass Harbor, Maine, died on April 5, after a period of declining health. She was born on Nov. 2, 1941, in New York City, to Mary Alice Candor Roche and John Patrick (Jack) Roche. She grew up in Caldwell, N.J., graduated in 1959 from Grover Cleveland High School and Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School of Montclair, N.J. She then moved to New York City, where she lived in Greenway Village and worked at the UN Secretariat for four years. She attended City College of New York while she worked at various offices through temporary employment agencies.
In 1972, Deirdre moved with a friend to Yellow Springs where, for the next 26 years, she was employed mostly as an artist’s model at local universities and buying and selling collectibles. She liked her life in this cosmopolitan college community, and also found it a good base for frequent travel. She did van camping throughout and across the U.S. and into Canada, and to and across Alaska and Mexico. She also spent time bicycle touring in Europe and the British Isles. She lived with a friend for a year in a small English town in the east called Brightling Sea.
Some other particular interests that enriched her life were a great love of movies, reading novels and mysteries as well as western women Buddhism, metaphysical healing and Christian mysticism. Early studies in dance movement led to a certificate in massage therapy and the practice of sensory awareness, which was an important inspiration in her living.
Last, in 1998, she moved to her much-loved Mt. Desert Island on the Maine coast, where she had first gone with her family when she was 13 years old. Her family bought a small summer house, which they kept until 1973. Later she described her retirement life on Mt. Desert as quiet and simple … the ideal setting to literally stop and smell the roses.
Deirdre was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her sister, Miceal Dubanovich, her nephew, John Mekeel and her grand-niece, Jessica Mekeel, all of New Jersey. She is also survived by her cousin, Mary Ellen Roche, of Pennsylvania, and several cousins in Ireland and friends in Maine and other states.
In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to the charity of your choice. Her body will be cremated. There will be no funeral service. Condolences may be sent to Bar Harbor Trust Services, 135 High St., Ellsworth, Maine 04605.
—Written by Deirdre Roche
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