Joseph Garland Roach
Joseph Garland Roach, 85, former president of Wesley College and well-known Greenville and Hunt County educator, died at 9:00 AM, Tuesday, July 22, 1980, at a Dallas hospital after an extended illness.
Funeral services will be at 10:30 AM on Thursday, July 24, 1980, at Sorrells and Sons Funeral Chapel with the Rev. Richard Atkinson, pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church, and the Rev. Gary Kincaid, of Irving, officiating. Burial will be in East Mount Cemetery.
A native of Hunt County, Roach was born on February 23, 1895, near Celeste, the son of James Franklin Roach and Alice McDonald Roach, early settlers of this section of Texas.
He was reared and educated in Celeste, Wesley Junior College, and Southern Methodist University and devoted the greater part of his life to the field of education in this section of the state. He served as teacher, high school principal, and Superintendent of the Celeste Public Schools for many years, later serving as principal of Greenville Senior High School for two years, President of Wesley Junior College in 1937 and 1938, and Superintendent of the Royse City Public Schools.
A veteran of both World Wars, Roach served with the famous Rainbow Division in France during World War I and during World War II volunteered for service with the American Red Cross as Field Director with the American troops in Italy and France. He was a member of Wesley United Methodist Church, a fifty-year member of Miller Lodge # 224 AF&AM at Celeste, and Otho Morgan Post No. 17, American Legion.
Roach was married to Mary Hagan, of Greenville, on October 25, 1920, and she survives along with one son, Dr. Joe Garland Roach, Jr., of Dallas; three grandchildren, Mrs. Lisa Baine and Allen Roach of Flower Mound and Joe Roach III of Dallas; three sisters, Mrs. Florine Dodson of Electra, Mrs. Estelle Rogers of Leonard, and Miss Grace Roach of Rankin; and one brother, James Roach of San Antonio.
Pall bearers will be: J. B. Briscoe, Fred Meadows, Fred Ende, Philip Pennington, Jerry Swindell, Dr. Logan McWhinney, Billy Ray Lyday, and Col. Rex. Denny.
Honorary pallbearers will be: Harbert Byers, John Myers, Dr. Otis Armstrong, Dr. Carey King, G. C. Harris, Henry Frnka, Les Tosch, and D. P. Thompson.
(July 23, 1980, The Greenville Herald Banner)
Submitted by Sarah Swindell
