Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-07-11
A SAD AFFAIR.
a LEADING CITIZEN OF FOR
WORTH GONE.
Tom Roche Loses lis Mind and while b.
that State Ends iIis Life.
Tho Particulars.

! Never has The GAZETTE been called uuu.
/ to chronicle AN occurrence alturc.hrr SD,
sad as that which shocked this cuu.rLuuiry
| yesterday. Tom Roche, une of .'pr-
| WorthS familiar figures, VS. found
| dead in his room al his ry-'
| deHca, also occupied by his BROTH
| n-ia,Y, Mn. i. y. Kane, yesterday Hur,.-.-
| shortly after : O'clock. \ bullet from e..
! 4l-ca-iber pistol had passed through "a.
brain causing instant death.
When found thc body was on the floor
near the bed, pistol in the right hand -
deceased, with one chamber of the cN.iudrr
empty.
The sad news was soon learned by his
relatives ard friends. and tie only exprt,
sion was that of profound sorrow. H.
/ rugged honesty, his nobility Of character.
his generosity of heart and his pUb.e
spirit were all remembered 10 his honor.
True the pistol from which The icadeu
messenger of death had flown was found j..
the dead mans hand. True that that hand
had sent the bullet crashing through the
brain. But il IS also tue ta4,
the act was q thing apart from
Tom Roche, from the mau VINO had We.
the good opinion Of all, from that man wi.
loved his two little girls and who had bael
so devoted 10 that wife who IN.
gone before. The Tom Roche who
loved his friends and the city
in which he lived never fired that shot
That Tom Roche had gone before. III,
mind was gone, that something which cor
rectly determines action was no longer
PRESENT. The world is poorer to-day Tor
his taking of. but his memory viii be- KEEP
green in many hearts for years 10 come.
THE CAUSE.
Many people in Fort Worth viii remem-
Der that about two Years ago & Telegram
was received from New York anuOuuciu.
the sudden death OF Mrs. Tom Roche,
vino with her two little girls, Nora
and Agnes. we're visiting Mrs. Roche
sister. This sad news was terrible shocii
TO Mr.. Roche, and from the day it was re
ccivcd until his death he was
changed man. He loved his wife a.
only Christian gentleman can, ami
when she was taken away the world We
not the same. He devoted himself to his
nine years oil age and they know
the loving father he was. Recent.
he has been unable TO sleep.
trifles seemed to unnerye him. and then.
despite the fact that he was "a wealthy man
the hailucination that he would lose his
wealth and leave his two mother
less children to battle with pov-
erty preyed upon his mind. He
fought against this and consulted his
friends and physicians in regard to it. His
medical adviser told him he must rest his
brain, and advised = cessation Of
business. His brothers, Jere J. ami
Eugene Roche, and warm personal friends
finally persuaded him to take tripC,
recreation, and he had made arrangements
TO leave on Thursday night with Mr.. John
Bergin. but changed his mind at the ia. {
moment
Thursday night he spent the evening witt
his brother, Jere j. Roche, who with his
wife did all in their power to make him
throw up his terrible hallucinatiou, anu
-Iar Mt | Lon no loft
Roche remarked to his wife that he thought
he had succeeded in bringing his brother TO
q better frame Of mind.
After reaching home deceased must have
retired and possibly slept some time. But
in his dreams that terrible Authorization
came 70 plague the brain and when h.
aWOke reason had gone and the act which
ended his mortal life was committed.
Only the relatives, spiritual advisers anG
warmeSt intimate friends know the agony
that Tom Roche has suffered. Not long
ago he spoke to his bishop about his
mental troubles, and since then
to his pastor the fear thai
he would in a time OF mental unsoundnesz
take his life. His fears came TO pass.
A. the time Of his death Tom Roche was
worth over and above IN liabilities, which
viii not exceed 5000, at leaSt
500, 900, and nearly al his property was
revenue producing, some of it being the
llutSL OtSIHeSS property IN + orr W OrtH
He left a large sum of money in one
Of our banks, and smaller sums in
two others. He recently made a sale
Of piece OF property in Iowa and the so,
600 purchase money is n all probability
now on its way to this city. He was largely
in Fort Worth enterprises ant
was widely known as a railroad builder OF
ability and large experience To those
who worked for him, Tom Roche was al
ways kind and generous, and in many
railroad camp viii men be heard to speak
If his good qualities when they hear of his
ieath
Tom Roche was devout Catholic anG
will be buried to-day from the Catholic
,hurch in this city at p H.
I,he pall-bearers will be VI. i. Lynch
VI. r. Kiley, Zane Cetti j. j. Cannon
John Moore and NJ. c. Hurley. Intermeni
will take place in the Catholic cemetery.
The immediate relatives of deceased iv.
ng are his brothers, j. j. Roche and Eugene
Roche, his sister, Mrs. Mailman, his brother
E-tiw, John Tierney, and his sister-in-law,
Mrs. E. P. Kane.