Diamond Roach

Obituary

Diamond Roach , educator and 33-year veteran of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, passed away (about October 11 or 12, 1993). He was 91. A native of Wapanucka, Ok. Roach gained fame as a football player at Oklahoma Central State College in 1920's. He received a bachelor's degree from Central state in 1930, then a master's degree from the University of Oklahoma, majoring in school administration. He was principal  and coach at Davenport High school from 1930 to 1933 and football coach at Fairfax High School in 1933-1934.     Of the 33 years  he spent with the BIA, Roach served 17 years in Oklahoma Indian Services. He also taught in North Carolina, paving the way for  Indian Children to attend public school. He led a movement gaining voter registration for all Indians in the state.

     From 1939-1942  he was reservation principal for the Colorado River Indian School in Parker, Arizona. He later served as an education field agent in Sisseton, South Dakota and Nespelem, Washington.

     He returned to Okahoma in 1950 to become superintendent at Cheyenne-Arapaho Indian School in Concho. In 1956, he transferred to Sequoyah High School in Tahlequah to serve as  superintendent until his retirement in 1969.

 In 1991, he moved to Joplin, Missouri to be near his family. He is survived by his wife,   Rubey Massey Roach of Joplin, Missouri; a son, Robert Wade Roach of El Reno, Oklahoma; a daughter, Margaret Wheeler of Joplin; a sister, Emerald Roach of Oklahoma City; six grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren.

• http://www.enolanet.net/turnernames/fam00425.htm
• https://www.chickasaw.net/Our-Nation/History/Historical-Articles/Pr...

  ---

• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Mar 11 2016, 0:52:32 UTC