Marjorie Roads

Marjorie Roads 1918-2015 Marjorie Roads, 97, of Freeport, died December 3, 2015 at Parkview Home in Freeport. Born August 14, 1918, in Rochester, New York, she was the eldest of the six children of John and Mabel McDonald. Marjorie graduated from Monroe High School in Rochester, and earned a degree in psychology at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She received a Master's degree at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After working in Boston and New York City, Marjorie married Wesley Roads. She raised five children in Freeport. Following the death of her husband, she went back to school at Northern Illinois University. She completed course requirements for a PhD but - by necessity - left with another Master's degree to take a job as school psychologist for Freeport School District 145. She put her children through college along the way. After retiring, Marjorie enjoyed trips to England, Australia, New Zealand, France, and Italy as well as visits to her children. Before and after retiring, Marjorie was active in many local organizations: the League of Women Voters, the Shakespeare Society, the Garden Club, the Stephenson County Historical Society, and above all, the Freeport Library Board, where she served as President for the critical years in which the new Freeport Library was conceived and built. Her patient, wise, and determined leadership and team spirit was instrumental in the long process of funding, designing, and constructing the new Freeport Public Library, which finally opened in 2003. She loved the books of Marcel Proust. Possessed of a dry wit, she exuded a generous, loving spirit, and demonstrated courage and perseverance in the face of adversity, including a long and debilitating struggle with arthritis. She was preceded in death by her husband Wesley Roads, MD (1969) and her beloved daughter Kim (1975), hit by a car at age 18, as well as by her sisters Ruth McDonald, Mary Parsons, Sally Haight, and brothers, Robert and Daniel McDonald. Survivors include her children Craig Roads and his wife Andrea (St. Paul MN), Curtis Roads (Santa Barbara CA), Tracy Noble (St. Paul, MN), and Dana Roads (Park City UT), and her grandchildren Hollis Roads (St. Paul MN), Lee Noble (Los Angeles CA), Wesley Cone and Rhea Cone (Park City UT). The family is especially grateful to her niece Kathleen Sundt (Boston MA) and her friend Joan Wootan of Freeport for their generous and loving care of Marjorie in later years. The family also thanks the staff of Parkview for their kindness and care in her last years. Marjorie will be missed by many. Donations in her memory to the Freeport Public Library are welcome. A memorial service is pending after the holidays.