BARBARA ANNE CATHERINE ROCHE

On May 30, 2023, Barbara Anne Catherine Roche, accompanied by angels and with her loving sister and friends present was welcomed into heaven after a long illness.

Barbara was born April 16,1949 in Exeter, Pa., daughter of the late William Peter Luksha and the late Julia Catherine Zavislak Luksha, and the granddaughter of the late John Zavislak and the late Victoria Prisbeck Zavislak of Wilkes-Barre, and the late Anthony and late Kasimira Luksha of Exeter. She was the oldest of three children, and throughout her life, became the center and rock of her family. She loved children, teaching, fashion, shopping, reading, singing, and the color purple. And, above all, she loved her family.

Barbara graduated from Misericordia University in 1971 and began teaching first grade in the Wyoming Valley West District upon graduation. There, she became a certified Special Education teacher and found her greatest love in teaching students with learning disabilities. She had a gift for teaching any child to read succeeding where other options failed. She taught K-3 special education Learning Disabilities at Schuyler Avenue School for most of her career, and then Remedial Mathematics at Main Street School in Plymouth until 2012 where she retired after 42 impactful years of teaching. As a summer school teacher at Wyoming Valley West, she laughingly said that she had taught at every single one of the Wyoming Valley West Elementary Schools and it was true. She was often greeted by former students who credited her with their success in their careers, giving her great joy.

She married Thomas Roche in 1992, and in addition to her teaching job, helped him in his Kitchen remodeling business. She was a stepmother to his three children, Thomas junior, Katie, and Colin. Growing up, Barbara took on the role of mother to her younger brother Edward when their mother had been hospitalized. She helped support her family in any way possible. When her husband passed in 1998, she moved in with her sister Rosemary, a single parent, and helped to raise her niece and goddaughter Mary Rose.

Barbara was an avid reader, inspiring and celebrating the love of reading in all of her students, and especially in her niece and grandnieces. She loved manicures, days spent shopping, and enjoying summers at the pool working on her phenomenal tan. Barbara belonged to the teachers unions, the PASR and PSEA Retired. She was a member of St. John the Baptist Church in Larksville, singing alto in St. John’s choir for more than 20 years. She also sang with the Catholic Choral Society performing in concerts at church venues several times a year until she became ill. She donated her time in community service as a member of the GFWC West Side.

Barbara helped co-found the “Painting for Edward” Memorial Window Painting Project in 1998 that brought beautiful painted holiday windows to the clients at Community Counseling and this past year to The Children’s Service Center in Wilkes-Barre. She was a member of the Portrait Society of America, attending the conferences with her sister Rosemary. 

Barbara was predeceased by her parents, William and Julia Luksha, brother Edward, husband, Thomas, and her grandniece Alexandra Eden Brown.

She is survived by her sister Rosemary Luksha, her niece Mary Rose Luksha Brown and husband Colin and grandnieces Fiona Rose and Amelia Nora Brown. She is terribly missed by all who met her, especially her grandnieces Fiona and Millie, who adored their “Babcia”.

The funeral will be held at the Andrew Strish Funeral Home in Larksville with the viewing on Friday, June 23, from 4-6 P.M. The funeral mass will be held at St. John the Baptist Church in Larksville on Saturday, June 24, at 9:30 A.M.

In Barbara’s bright and colorful memory, we ask those attending to wear an item of the purple coloring, her favorite color.

The family thanks the nurses and doctors at Allied Hospice for their kind and compassionate care of Barbara. They became family to our family with their warmth caring, and compassion.

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