Warren R. Roach
UNION CITY --- Warren R. Roach, 69, 15 Cherokee Street, Union Lake, died
Saturday, Nov. 10, 1990, in Borgess Medical Center, Kalamazoo,
where he had been a patient since Nov. 8.
He was born in Branch Count and came to
Battle Creek in 1948 from LaPorte, Ind. He moved to Union Lake in
1973.
He served in the Army's 508th Parachute infantry
Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. He was captured by the
German Army on D-Day, 18 hours after the beginning of the Allied
invasion. He was freed by the Soviets at the Oder River on Jan.
31, 1945, and was returned to the Allied forces in March 1945. He
was one of the first American prisoners of war to be returned to the
states n the ship Mariposa.
He worked as an auto-body painter at the Henry T. Owens Studebaker,
Cushman-Brown Oldsmobile, and Horner-Coppin Chrysler-Plymouth |
agencies. He was then employed
as an industrial paint salesman by Sherwin Williams Paint Co. and Niles
Chemical Co. He retired in 1983 as superintendent of Vincent's
Painting Services, Tekonsha.
He was a member of
the Coldwater United Methodist Church, American Ex-prisoners of War, and
508th parachute Infantry Regiment Association and was former chaplain of
the Athens Post 5319, Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Surviving is his wife, the former Beverly J. Hogue;
sons Robert Roach of Battle Creek and Douglas Roach of Lexington, Ky.;
and three grandchildren..
Services will be at 10 .a.m. Tuesday in Fort Custer
National Cemetery, Battle Creek. Memorial donations may go to
American Heart Association. Arrangements are by Shaw-Estes Funeral
Home, Battle Creek.[Battle Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, MI,·12 November 1990, Mon, Other Editions, Page 2] |
[courtesy of "Sharon W"]Grave
marker for Warren R. Roach in Plot 11, Site 2234 of the Fort Custer
National Cemetery, Augusta (Kalamazoo county), Michigan.
Warren
enlisted in the Army at Kalamazoo, MI on 17 August 1942.
On 15 March 1943 Pvt Roach was assigned to Company "(I", 508th PIR.
Pvt Roach was promoted from Private to T4 on 18 November 1943.
T4 Roach was captured in Normandy on 6 June 1944 and was liberated
from Stalag 4B when the war ended. |