Obituary for Henrietta "Hedy" Roche (Cohen)
Henrietta "Hedy" Roche (nee Cohen) - age 101, of Galloway Township, died on January 28, 2021. Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania on September 11, 1919, she graduated from Altoona Area High School, and left home at 18 to study fashion illustration at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA. After art school, with the war still on, she worked at the Pentagon as a draftsman and later worked as the first woman draftsman for an engineering firm in Philadelphia. While visiting friends in Atlantic City, she was set up on a blind date with Saul Roche, a local dentist. They married in 1957 and - after living in Saul's house on Albion Place for a few years - built a new house in Ventnor where Saul moved his dental practice and built a garden paradise in their backyard. Saul died in 1996.
Hedy was never stuck in the past. She was a creative spirit, and always loved experiencing things that were new and exciting (usually saying "I was born too early" when she did). Hedy's enthusiasm and sense of wonder never waned, and her essential optimism turned every "oops" into a creative possibility -- and an inspirational legacy for her daughters and grandchildren. In her social life, Hedy was known for her original style, her salty wit, and her natural ease with people. In many Zoom calls with her family over the past year, it was very clear that she had lost none of those attributes.
Hedy was predeceased by her husband, Saul Roche, DDS, and ex-husband, Max Booke; her parents Abraham and Jennie (Patt) Cohen, her brothers Henry Colman and Edgar Cohen. She is survived by her daughters, Bonnie Roche and Amy (Daniel) Ojserkis; grandchildren Max (Lauren), Samuel and Mimi Ojserkis; nieces Judy Garber, Ellen Winer, Cathy Colman; nephews Andrew Garber, Eric Winer and Richard Colman, and her oldest and dearest friend, Ethel Katz.
Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Seashore Gardens Living Center, 22 West Jimmie Leeds Road, Galloway, NJ 08205 (https://seashoregardens.org/) or to the charity of your choice.
Hedy was never stuck in the past. She was a creative spirit, and always loved experiencing things that were new and exciting (usually saying "I was born too early" when she did). Hedy's enthusiasm and sense of wonder never waned, and her essential optimism turned every "oops" into a creative possibility -- and an inspirational legacy for her daughters and grandchildren. In her social life, Hedy was known for her original style, her salty wit, and her natural ease with people. In many Zoom calls with her family over the past year, it was very clear that she had lost none of those attributes.
Hedy was predeceased by her husband, Saul Roche, DDS, and ex-husband, Max Booke; her parents Abraham and Jennie (Patt) Cohen, her brothers Henry Colman and Edgar Cohen. She is survived by her daughters, Bonnie Roche and Amy (Daniel) Ojserkis; grandchildren Max (Lauren), Samuel and Mimi Ojserkis; nieces Judy Garber, Ellen Winer, Cathy Colman; nephews Andrew Garber, Eric Winer and Richard Colman, and her oldest and dearest friend, Ethel Katz.
Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Seashore Gardens Living Center, 22 West Jimmie Leeds Road, Galloway, NJ 08205 (https://seashoregardens.org/) or to the charity of your choice.