Shirley Roach

Rock Rapids, IA

Shirley Menage Roach died at the Rock Rapids Health Centre on November 17, 2022, at the age

of 94. Shirley was born in Rock Rapids in 1928. Her parents -- Peter Menage and Vivien Strait

Menage -- and all four of her grandparents were from Rock Rapids. In kindergarten she and her

friends formed a group called the Snipper Snappers, and they remained good friends for their

entire lives.

Shirley attended Morningside College and the University of Iowa. In 1950 she married Fred

Roach of Rock Rapids. They were married for 67 years, until his death in 2018. Shirley and Fred

began dating when they were working at the Lyon County Reporter and they spent much of

their life together running weekly newspapers (Shirley writing local news) in Northwest Iowa

and Montana. The couple returned to Rock Rapids from Montana in 1990 to care for Shirley’s

elderly parents.

Fred and Shirley had four children: Eric Roach of Spearfish, South Dakota; Gretchen (Freeman)

Millhollon of San Bernardino, California; Amy Roach of Livingston, Montana; and Carol (Jef)

Faulkner of Bristol, Rhode Island. They had eight grandchildren: Kathy, James, Adam, Roman,

Charlie, Bobby, Thomas, and James.

Shirley is survived by a brother and sister-in-law, Elmer and Karen Menage; two nieces, Liz

Stubbe and Kris Kuechenmeister; two nephews, John Rhode and Tom Menage. She is

predeceased by a sister, Jeanne Menage Rhode, and a nephew, Jeff Menage.

Shirley was one of a kind. Her kids called her “Squirrelly” because of her singular sense of

humor. She could talk to anybody, she read all the time, and she was a wonderful writer. She

loved baking, doing crafts, and watching old movies – particularly anything starring Cary Grant.

Shirley was a member of the Rock Rapids United Methodist Church.

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