Francoise Rohrbach Obituary

Name: Calling hours for Francoise Rohrbach
Start: 2021-11-27T15:00:00.000Z
End: 2021-11-27T16:00:00.000Z
Location: Stephens Funeral Home, Inc. - Allentown

Francoise Rohrbach, 76, of Macungie, passed away Friday, November 12, 2021, in the Lehigh Valley Health Network, Salisbury Twp. She and her husband, Elwood R., celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary. Born in Epernay France, she immigrated to the United States in 1986 and her name is engraved on the Wall of Honor at Ellis Island. Achieving a 4.0 grade point average at both, she studied at Muhlenberg and Cedar Crest colleges and earned enough credits to receive her certificate to teach French. Francoise taught in the East Penn School District for a year before developing and teaching the French curriculum at Moravian Academy where she taught the Renault children (previous owner of Mack Trucks, Inc.) for 13 years to provide the children the opportunity to remain on pace with their education when they returned to France. After retiring in 2003, she invested herself in volunteering at the Lower Macungie Library where she implemented its first volunteer training program, the Emmaus Public Library and the Lower Macungie Middle School Library. She was of the Catholic faith and enjoyed travelling and collecting artwork.

Survivors: husband; cousins, Barbara (Robert) Chavez, Richard Perinotto (Dionne Pollard), Donald Luther, Alex (Donna) Luther; sisters-in-law, Gloria (Warren) Knerr and family, Joanne Stine and family; brother-in-law, Forrest (Frances) Rohrbach and family; beloved canine companion, Sheeba.

Services: 11 AM Saturday at STEPHENS FUNERAL HOME, INC. 274 N. Krocks Rd. Allentown. Call 10 AM until service time. Facial covering of mouth and nose are required to attend visitation and service. (www.stephensfuneral.com)

Contributions: In lieu of flowers, to Lehigh Valley Health Network, Office of Philanthropy, PO Box 1883 Allentown PA 18105. Please make check payable to Lehigh Valley Health Network and include in memo line "In memory of Francoise Rohrbach for John and Dorothy Morgan Cancer Center."

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Morning Call on Nov. 21, 2021.

Memories and Condolences
for Francoise Rohrbach

Sponsored by Stephens Funeral Home, Inc. - Allentown.

7 Entries

Florence Marée

November 12, 2023

Two years already. Thinking of you, dear Françoise, and Elwood. Your friend Florence.

Florence MARÉE

January 9, 2022

Dear Françoise,
We have known each other in years 1965-1968 and then we lost sight of each other. But I thought of you from time to time. And 5 or 6 years ago, a miracle : I traced you on the internet. So I learned that you lived in the USA. I contacted you, and you answered to me ! Since then, we have been exchanging e-mails, from time to time. But for some time, no more e-mails, no more answers. So I just called on the internet again and I learn that you are no more with us. I am awfully sad. I thought of you very often and I loved the idea that somebody, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, thought of me from time to time. We did not got much time to know each other but I miss you. One thing comforts me : from your messages, you were happy in America, with your husband Elwood and your sweet Sheeba. You were probably perfectly bilingual : sorry for my bad English. So long, my dear Françoise, rest in peace. Florence

Sean Kinsell

December 8, 2021

Mrs. Rohrbach was my French III teacher at Emmaus in the 1988-89 school year. It took a while before we got used to her teaching style, but I've been grateful for it since. She put a great deal of thinking into helping us learn and was visibly pleased when we made breakthroughs. Her insights as a native speaker of the target language and as the product of a much different educational system were invaluable, and she was able to communicate them to us clearly and economically. Working in localization and specializing in Japanese in the decades since, I've often thought about little things about language acquisition and code switching to which Mrs. Rohrbach introduced us then, in useful everyday terms.

How nice to learn that she went on to greater responsibility and challenges, in both work and volunteering. Sincere condolences to her family and friends, from a student on whom she made a lasting effect.

Joanne

December 7, 2021

My condolences

Donald Luther

November 26, 2021

Thank you for your kindness and your willingness to share your thoughts across the country.

Judith Annuik

November 24, 2021

Elwood, I will treasure my memories of Francoise and she will remain in my heart, forever. She had a wonderful zest for life and always had a smile. May you find peaceful moments in the days ahead. With heartfelt sympathy, Judy

Sally Gordon

November 21, 2021

To Elwood..
I will miss Francoise. She was a lovely, smart, unique lady. My heart goes out to you.

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