SMYRNA MILLS – Barbara Elizabeth Roach, RN, BA, passed away on Friday, April 9, following a lengthy battle with cancer.

She was born on Aug. 25, 1930 in Rockland, the daughter of Herbert A. and Nora (Nelson) Roach. A 1948 graduate of Ricker Classical Institute, she went on to become a registered nurse, graduating from Eastern Maine General Hospital School of Nursing in 1952, and University of Maine in 1953. She was employed by Eastern Maine General Hospital from 1953 to 1968, working as a nurse and then a nursing instructor. In 1968, Barbara became a nursing instructor at Central Maine Technical Institute in Auburn, and was soon promoted to director of the program – a title she held for ten years until her retirement in 1990.

She belonged to several professional groups, including the Maine State Nurses Association and the National League of Nursing. She also served for ten years on the Maine State Board of Nursing.

She is survived by her brother, George Arnold Roach and wife, Joyce (McKay) Roach, of Smyrna Mills; three nieces, Diane Tardy and husband, Michael of Sabattus, Suzanne Spruce of Bangor and Elizabeth Roach of Washington, DC; two great nieces, Jessica Tardy of Portland, Ore. and Sarah Spruce of Bangor and one great nephew, Andrew Spruce of Bangor. She also wished to remember special friends Mary Lou Doughty of Fort Fairfield, Nadine Williams of Houlton and Dale Barrows of Smyrna Mills.