Mae Franklin Roach Wright

Wright Mae Franklin Roach Wright, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on May 23, 1913, died July 30, 2002, at the age of 89. Her parents, Emma Franklin Roach & Japheth Roach, were natives of Barbados, British West Indies. After early public school and professional business education in Boston, she served six years as executive secretary to the President of Savannah State College. She married Staff Sergeant Boyd A. Wright in Washington, D.C. just before he was called to WWII overseas duty in July 1942. After the war, she raised four children with her husband in Minneapolis while completing Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Elementary Education at the University of Minnesota, and then earned State Certification in Special Education. She taught 2nd and 3rd grades and became a Learning Disabilities Resource Teacher for the Minneapolis Public Schools, where she worked for 17 years at the Blaine, Grant, Harrison, and North Star sites. After retiring in 1978, she continued to work for ten years with special students as a part-time tutor for Youth Incorporated. A charter member of the Savannah Chapter of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, she also held memberships in the Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Association, the Minnesota Senior Federation, and various social clubs. Her immediate survivors include three sons, John, Boyd, and Charles; three grandchildren, Phallon, Adam, and Evan; daughters-in-law, Brenda Lauderback, Lovelle Wright, and Serena Wright; brother, Zedward Lewis of Englewood, New Jersey; and many nieces and nephews. Widowed in 1991, she was preceded in death also by her beloved daughter, Beryl. An informal pre-memorial reception for family, friends, colleagues, and well-wishers will be held in the Ski-U-Mah Room of the McNamara Alumni Center at the University of Minnesota, 200 Oak St SE, from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturday, August 3; and will be followed by a memorial service at Lakewood Chapel, 3600 Hennepin Ave S at 2:00 PM. Instead of flowers, memorials suggested to the Archie Givens, Sr. Foundation (952-831-2555) and the United Negro College Fund (612-338-5742).

Published on August 1, 2002