16
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, APR. 8-14, 2022 BXR
Westerns makes sense.
“At his wake and burial,
it occurred to me why; at
least why I think that’s why
he wanted them on in the
background,” said John
Roche, a former editor and
associate publisher of the
Bronx Times. “In Westerns,
things like honor and
loyalty and fairness and
courage matter, and can
be worn like a shiny sheriff’s
star on the chest. And
in Westerns, no matter the
challenges and difficulties
and tough breaks and unfair
circumstances that the
good guys face, they somehow
always manage to win
in the end.”
Despite a “gruff” exterior,
Joseph Roche dedicated
much of his life to
helping others as a registered
nurse at Jacobi, both
in the ER and the hyperbaric
department. And for
his family, he leaves with
a special legacy that would
make the daring cowboys
of the Wild West proud.
“Something to think
about in retrospect is
all the lives he helped
save, and all the lives he
touched, often when people
were most in need of help,
during his decades at Jacobi,
especially in the ER,”
John Roche said. “I think
that’s a special kind of legacy,
not only from what Joe
did but also who he was.”
More than that, Joseph
Roche will be remembered
for his passionate and loyal
support of the local New
York sports team, especially
the New York Football
Giants. But he is also
known for the loving son,
brother, uncle and friend
he was.
Joseph Roche’s funeral
was held on March 24;
he was buried at St. Raymond’s
Cemetery.
Joseph Roche is survived
by his sister Kathleen
and her husband,
Henry Piccoli; his brother
Laurence and his wife
Marian; his brother John
Roche; nephews Kyle
Roche, Steve Roche, and
Richie and Henry Rocco
Piccoli; nieces Maureen
(Piccoli) Kazura, Kaitlyn
Piccoli, Maura (Roche)
Wall, and Abigail and Jillian
Roche; along with
several great-nieces and
great-nephews, as well as a
slew of friends.
He was pre-deceased
by his parents, Larry and
Maureen Roche, and his
sister Elizabeth.
Joseph Roche exemplified the
spirit of his beloved Westerns
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
Joseph Roche loved his
Westerns. The stories of
battles between good and
evil, the scenic backdrops
and the stage presence of
one John Wayne enamored
Roche throughout his life.
It was fitting that after
Roche rode off into the sunset
in March at the age of
67 after a long debilitative
battle with Parkinson’s disease,
that his family and
friends remember him as
a man who battled the disease
with the toughness of
a slick-shooting sheriff at
showdown and exhibited
his care through actions.
Roche, a longtime
Bronxite, died peacefully
on March 19, St. Joseph’s
Day, one of his favorite days
of the year.
While Parkinson’s took
a toll on Roche’s physical
and mental disabilities —
a disorder that his brother
John Roche describes as not
only tough to suffer from,
but also tough to watch a
loved one go through — it
never quelled his love for
Westerns, as he watched
them almost exclusively at
the Providence Rest nursing
home in the Bronx.
For John Roche, his
brother’s fascination with
Joseph Roche