Maxine A. Rocha

3/11/1927-6/29/2025 Maxine Alene Clark Rocha was born on March 11, 1927, in Deer Park, Washington, to Dan Clark and Mabel Irene Lilly Moyers. She was an only child, born during the Depression. Maxine came from a broken home, and some of her earliest memories were from when she and her mom lived in Juntura, Oregon. Her mom washed dishes at a little café while Maxine attended several schools there. Later, they ended up in Payette, Idaho. She was in the fourth grade, and her mom worked as a nanny for two girls who were 12 and 10. She had just turned 10 herself. Eventually, someone wrote to her mom about a job opening at a logging camp in Dewatto, a beautiful spot in the woods on Hood Canal. The man here mom worked for didn’t have enough money to pay her, so he gave her an old Whippet car, and off they went again. In Dewatto, there was no electricity or power – just kerosene lamps and candles. Maxine went to a little schoolhouse with all the grades from first through eighth in one room. She was in fifth grade when they moved there, and they stayed until she graduated the eighth grade. She was the only one in her grade, and graduated all by herself. During those years, Maxine discovered how much she loved singing. At 10 years old, she found out she could sing alto and yodel,she and her mom learned many songs together from their battery-powered radio. When the logging came to an end in Dewatto, Maxine’s aunt, uncle, and cousins moved to the next work camp, and she and her mom moved to the Yakima Valley to work the hop harvest. That is where Maxine met Joe, the love of her life. She was 16 and he was 18. He played guitar and sang, and together they made beautiful music. They both worked at the Golding Farm, and eventually, her mom bought a little home in Toppenish where she and Joe lived and that is where their first child, Allan, was born. Just eight months later, Pearl Harbor was bombed, and Joe, along with his three brothers, joined the service. She and Allan stayed with her mom until the war ended. When Joe came home from Korea, he went back to work at the Golding Farm. They had Renee, and after 12 years, Johnny and Debra came along, and their family was complete. Maxine’s mom eventually retired. Maxine and Joe moved her trailer into their backyard. They had seven wonderful years together before she passed away from a heart attack. Once the kids were grown and married, Joe was still working, and with her mom gone, she found herself with some time to spare. One day, she saw on TV that The Sweet Adelines were looking for women singers. She tried out, and to her joy, she passed the audition. She sang bass with them for six years and then with another group called the Bell Cantos for five more years. They performed as guests for a barbershop show at the Capitol Theater called the Sun Valley Follies. One of her proudest moments was singing bass in a quartet at the Capitol Theater when she was 75 years old. Later, she joined a group called Cascade Winds with five other women, and they sang at nursing homes and living facilities, fulfilling special requests on Valentine’s Day. She sang with them until she retired from the group at 88 years old. She and Joe were married for 74 years until he passed away at the age of 92 in January 2017. She often said “I will miss you all dearly, but I know Joe and I will be singing together again in Heaven”. Message from Maxine: Thank you all for being part of my life. I leave behind a legacy of music, faith, and love, and I hope you carry those songs and memories with you always. Maxine is preceded in death by her grandparents Kate and Eugene Clark, mother Mabel Irene Lilly Moyers, father Dan Clark, brother Dan Clark, husband Joe E. Rocha, son Allan Joe Rocha, daughter Renee Irene Rodriguez, and granddaughter Lisa Irene Rocha Orozco. She is survived by: Her daughter Debra Rocha Orozco and son-in-law Ed Orozco; son John Rocha and wife Lencha Rocha; daughter-in-law Susan Rocha, son-in-law, Jessie Rodriquez; her grandchildren: Joey Rocha, Shawn Rocha, Paula Rodriquez, Victoria Hall and her husband Russell, Erica Rocha “Orozco” and Rodney Rutledge, Adam Orozco and his wife Melissa Orozco, Jose Rocha, Ana Rocha Terrell and her husband Noah. Her great-grandchildren: Alexandra Curtis, Nate Curtis, Grayson Rodriquez Hewitt, Adam John Maxwell Orozco “AJ”, and Katniss Lisa Rutledge.

Maxine A. Rocha

March 11, 1927 - June 29, 2025

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Maxine A. Rocha

March 11, 1927 - June 29, 2025

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