TRIBUTE TO ROXANNE LYNN ROCHESTER
WHEREAS, In His Infinite Wisdom, God has granted eternal rest to RoxAnne Lynn Rochester, a most outstanding citizen and highly respected member of the legal community, on April 12, 2014; and
WHEREAS, RoxAnne Rochester started life on October 4, 1961 as the daughter of Richard and Florence Rochester in the suburb of DesPlaines, graduating from Glenbrook North High School in 1979. She matriculated to St. Mary's College in Indiana where she received her Bachelors degree in 1983. In 1989, she obtained her law degree from Loyola University Chicago's School of Law. She served as a legal extern with the United States District Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, and as a Law Clerk to Judge Richard L. Curry in the Circuit Court of Cook County in the Chancery Division; and
WHEREAS, Most recently, RoxAnne Rochester was staff attorney with the Circuit Court of Cook County in the Law Division. Prior to joining the Law Division, she enjoyed a notable 17 year career in private practice as an attorney for the securities and commodities law firm of Fishman and Merrick, P.C. and, for more than a decade, was founder and principal of her own law firm; and
WHEREAS, RoxAnne Rochester used her wide range of legal experience to benefit her community, serving on the board of directors and various committees of multiple bar associations, including the director of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois, a co-chair of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois Continuing Legal Education Committee, a co-chair of the Rise Up and Reach Back Esther Rothstein Scholarship Luncheon, a member of the Board of Governors of the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago, a member of the Women Everywhere: Partners in Service Project, a member of the Chicago Bar Association Alliance for Women, a member of the ISBA Committee on Minorities and Women, and service on the Continuing Legal Education Committee of the ISBA. Additionally, Ms. Rochester has served as a mentor in the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois J.D. mentor program and as a supervisor and liaison to law student externs from DePaul University, Loyola University of Chicago School of Law and John Marshall; and
WHEREAS, RoxAnne Rochester's many civic contributions included service on the Women's Board of Misericordia and as director and secretary of the Friends of Downtown as well as director and secretary of the Frances Xavier Warde School Parent Group Advisory Board. For two decades, she has served meals every two weeks to women at Deborah's Place, a shelter for women undergoing life transitions. She was a founding member, former president and active coordinator of the Old St. Patrick's Community Outreach Group whose devoted volunteers serve Chicago's West Side low income and unemployed population through the staffing of 14 different local sites feeding the homeless, caring for the infirm and elderly along with providing tutoring and mentoring services. This group she started and spearheaded also reaches across international borders, deploying its volunteers to serve needy people in Peru, Nicaragua, India, and Africa; and
WHEREAS, RoxAnne Rochester was joined in Holy Matrimony to fellow attorney and software developer Jay Marhoefer on November 6, 1998. Two sons, John and Dominic, blessed this union. In addition to her immediate family, she leaves behind, to celebrate her exceptional life, her mother, sister and three brothers; and
WHEREAS, The Honorable Robert W. Fioretti, Alderman of the 2nd Ward, has informed this august body of the untimely transition of this extraordinary woman; now therefore
BE IT RESOLVED That we, the Mayor and members of the City of Chicago City Council, gathered together on this 30lh Day of April, 2014, do hereby express our sincerest sorrow upon learning of the passing of RoxAnne Lynn Rochester and extend our deepest sympathy to her family and the many, many people whose lives she touched and changed for the better.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED That a suitable copy of this resolution be prepared and presented to the family of RoxAnne Lynn Rochester.