Obituary of Clifford Francis Roach

Roach- Clifford FrancisAt the Hotel Dieu Hospital, St. Catharines on Friday July 1,2005 Clifford Roach of St. Catharines in his 85th year. Beloved husband of Mary (MacDonald) and loving father of Michael (Gloria) of Calgary AB, Clifford Jr. (Barbara) of Oshawa, Jo Ann Jones of Calgary AB, Cathy (Doug) De Pape of La Salle, Manitoba, Susan (Brian) Richard of Sydney, Nova Scotia and Nancy (Sean) O' Brien of St. Catharines. He will be lovingly remembered by his 11 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Dear brother of Eleanor (Les) Davey of Campbellford ON. He was predeceased by his parents Michael (Mickey) and Elsie and his younger brother Warren "Rocky". Clifford's greatest love was his family to whom he dedicated his life. An outstanding athlete in hockey and baseball, he won eight team and league hockey scoring championships in addition to leading the 1946 baseball Truro Bearcats to the Maritime Championships with a .434 batting average. In hockey he turned Pro in 1946 playing two seasons for the Providence Reds. He later went on to scout for the Montreal Canadiens. He was twice inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame, as a team member with the Truro Bearcats in 1980, the Sydney Millionaires in 2000 and in 2002 he became one of the rare few to join his father in being singularly elected to the Hall of Fame. In 2001, he was inducted to the Cape Breton Sport Heritage Hall of Fame. After his retirement from sport, Clifford began a successfull career in industrial relations, retiring as Vice-President of industrial relations of the Sydney Steel Corporation. A Memorial mass will be celebrated Wednesday at 11:00am at St. Denis Roman Catholic Church on Lake Street in St. Catharines ON. Cremation has taken place with interment of cremated remains at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Canadian Cancer Society or Heart and Stroke Foundation are appreciated and cards are available through the George Darte Funeral Chapel (905-937-4444).