RoxAnne L. Rochester passed away on Saturday, April 12, in Florida after valiantly battling cancer. There will be burial services in Florida and a memorial service in Chicago, details are below.

She was a staff attorney in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Law Division, where she was responsible for reviewing, analyzing and recommending the appropriate disposition of contested pre-trial motions in legal disputes involving personal injury, contracts, business torts and construction litigation.

Before joining the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ms. Rochester worked for 17 years in the private practice of law. Ms. Rochester was the founder and principal of the Law Offices of RoxAnne L. Rochester, a firm she spearheaded for over a decade.

Prior to her work in the private sector, Ms. Rochester 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, Chancery Division.

In addition to her professional work, Ms. Rochester was actively involved in the legal community. Her leadership included serving on the Board of Directors and various Committees of multiple bar associations, including: Director, Women’s Bar Association of Illinois; Co-Chair of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois Continuing Legal Education Committee; Co-Chair of the Rise Up and Reach Back Esther Rothstein Scholarship Luncheon; Board of Governors of the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago; Member of the Women Everywhere: Partners in Service project; Member of the Chicago Bar Association Alliance for Women; the ISBA Committee on Minorities and Women; and the Continuing Legal Education Committee of the ISBA.

Ms. Rochester actively served her community in a wide range of efforts.  Her executive responsibilities included, the Women’s Board of Misericoria, Director and Secretary of the Friends of Downtown, and Director and Secretary of the Frances Xavier Warde School Parent Group Advisory Board.  Ms. Rochester was a founding member, former President and active coordinator of the Old St. Patrick’s Community Outreach Group (COG).  COG began in the early 1990s as a small group of devoted volunteers wishing to serve Chicago’s west side low income or unemployed population.  Today, COG deploys thousands of volunteers to 14 different local sites feeding the homeless, caring for the infirm and elderly and providing tutoring and mentoring services. COG also reaches across international borders deploying its volunteers to serve people in need in Peru, Nicaragua, India, and Africa.

Ms. Rochester received her Juris Doctor in 1989 graduating from Loyola University of Chicago School of Law.  She received her undergraduate degrees, two Bachelors of Arts in History and Government, and minor degrees in Spanish and Latin American Studies from St. Mary’s University, Notre Dame, Indiana.

Venice, Florida, Service

Visitation: Wednesday, April 16, 5-8 p.m.

• Farley Funeral Home
• 265 S. Nokomis Ave (on Venice Island)
• (941) 488-2291

Funeral: Thursday, April 17, 1 p.m.  

• Epiphany Cathedral
• 350 Tampa Ave. 

Burial: Thursday, April 17 after funeral,

• Venice Memorial Gardens
• 1950 Center Road

Breaking of bread and sharing of stories after the burial TBD

Chicago Service

Visitation: Thursday, April 24, 5:30-7 p.m.

• Old St. Pat’s Church
• 700 W Adams St.
• (312) 648-1021

Memorial Mass at OSP beginning at 7 p.m.

Breaking of bread and sharing of stories after the Mass TBD

In lieu of flowers, RoxAnne’s family asks that donations be made to either the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa or Deborah’s Place

(parent organization of Marah’s House) in Chicago.