The following appeared in the obituaries section on Hoyt Funeral Home’s website:
Mae L. Roche DePalma passed away on Feb. 8, 2014 at the age of 92.
Born March 5, 1921, Mae was the youngest and last surviving daughter of Charles and Amelia Roche. Mae grew up on the banks of the Silvermine River in the area then known locally as “Rocheville” because of the many members of her family who had lived there since the mid-Nineteenth Century. Mae’s active childhood included a passion for swimming in the river in her back yard like generations before and after her.
Mae and her sisters, Edith and Letty, attended a one room schoolhouse on the New Canaan side of the river, and later progressed to New Canaan High School. There Mae met local sports hero Dominick “Skeeter” DePalma. When Skeeter entered the Army in World War II Mae followed him to Little Rock, Arkansas where they married. Mae was undaunted having to start her married life residing in a converted hen house near the post.
After the war, Mae and Skeeter settled back in New Canaan, where they raised daughters Mayetta and Emmy. Never one to sit idle, Mae had a career as a bookkeeper for local establishments, including Weed & Duryea, the F.B. Morse Agency, Karl Buick, Louis Lee Company, the Lake Club and the Low Heywood Thomas School.
In addition to Skeeter, Mae was predeceased by her daughter Mayetta St. John. She is survived by her daughter Emmy, and by her beloved grandchildren, Jonas and Timothy St. John, Elizabeth Naylor, and Sasha Hastings.
Visiting hours will take place Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hoyt Funeral Home, 199 Main Street, New Canaan, CT. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Lt. John Corr Memorial Award Fund, c/o Tom Sinchak, Esq., 30 Deacons Lane, Wilton CT 06897.
MEMORIAL VISITATION
Saturday February 15, 2014, 11:00am – 1:00pm at Hoyt Funeral Home