Mary Roach

She was a human encyclopedia, with no tolerance for nonsense. Her goal as a teacher was to stomp out the ignorance in today's youth; she may have not gotten around the entire youth population, but she ensured that her students were ignorance free.

Roach class of 08

She was proud of me. That was hard for me to accept at the time but now I am glad she showed it. When I told her I enlisted in the Air Force and that I had a daughter she left her class in the middle of lecture and we went and took pictures in the PhotoJ lab. That picture is hanging at my desk and it will travel with me on deployments, TDY's and Station moves. I will never forget you and I will tell my children about your influence on my life.

Class of 2008.

Mary was my cousin by marriage, having married my 1st cousin Dr. F.A. "Jack" Roach when I was in the 6th grade. What a lady! Though I never had her as a teacher in school, nonetheless, I learned a great deal from her. Unfortunately we have no one left in our family who could have let me know of her passing, and I was doing genealogy research when I stumbled upon her obituary. I missed her memorial by less than a day.

I am a teacher, too, and I realize the depth in the posts of...

Mes Roach singlehandedly prepared me for college and adulthood. She held you accountable, expected your best work 100% of the time & pulled no punches. If you were being an idiot, she let you know it - usually by requiring you to "hold her hand" while she sat & lectured.
I am saddened that an era has ended with Mrs Roach's passing - she was a unique teacher, a unique woman, a unique person. One of the most fearless & tenacious people I've ever met. The world is a worse place for her no...

She was the best, an inspiration to all, and will be missed.

Mrs. Roach brought a certain light to all things she touched. When you sat in her classroom you could not help but be captivated by the history of the world she so vividly told. Years after leaving her classroom, sitting across a dinner table the light was still there as we talked and laughed for hours about the world today. She was a gift in my life acting as a mentor and friend years beyond my high school days. She will be sorely missed and remembered fondly. I am grateful to have...

Mrs. Roach is the woman who really cultivated my current love for History. The one who inspired me (a total slacker to take an AP European History class. It's no surprise she's been an inspiration to so many.

Mrs. Roach was the finest teacher I have ever had and inspired me to be a teacher myself. I'm deeply saddened by this news and my thoughts to out to her family.

My friendship with Mary Roach dates from 1958, when her husband, Jack, was my lab partner in an undergraduate Atomic Physics class at the University of Texas. That friendship continued in graduate school, the years when the Roaches lived in Athens, GA, and when they returned to Texas. It is clear from reading the testimonials of her Tomball High students that she had a big impact on their lives. Mary also had an impact on my life when she gave me THE BEST ADVICE I EVER RECEIVED (concerning...