Nancy J. Roth

Nancy Josephine Roth, 69, died at her home in Brookline, NH, on Sunday morning, the 24th of September, 2023.

Nancy was the type of person, who gave and gave and gave until there was nothing left. Even her cats knew this about her, prodding her day and night for the treats she would endlessly give. Nancy had a habit of flooding her loved ones with excessive amounts of Christmas gifts, making (from scratch) hot breakfasts for her daughters every day before school, and giving loans out to people she cared about even when she didn't really have the money.

Her spirit around people, was always cheery. Even in hospital when things seemed grim, she joked and smiled with the nurses and doctors. She was kind, and silly, and a true kid at heart.

Nancy was born on August 28th 1954, in Highland Park, IL, as the fourth of five children. She loved their first house in Northfield, Illinois, which was situated next door to her Nanny and Granddad, parents of her late mother, Shirley Roth. She talked fondly of Granddad's garden, the kittens their cat often had, and birthday parties and other gatherings with her cousins.

She particularly loved spending time at her Aunt Marian's house, with boys Eric, John, Bruce, & Jim Wedell.

Other highlights of her youth included: Tell, their boxer who she grew a deep bond with at a very early age. Helping her dad (the late Richard J. Roth Sr.) cook "egg pancakes" and over-eating them because they were so good. Taking care of her little brother, "Mikey" (Michael Roth). Her friendship with their dog, Suzie. And, the year she spent at Rosemary Hall School (then an all girls school in Greenwich Connecticut).

Nancy was a very good student. After taking some AP and college courses in high school, she attended Stanford University, following in the footsteps of her two older brothers, Alexander "Alex" Roth and Richard "Dick" J. Roth Jr.. She was a National Merit scholar and adored going to classes, often signing up for more courses than she needed to. She took so many, that she managed to receive two degrees in her four years at school! One was in Mathematical Sciences (with a specialization in Computer Science), the other in Anthropology. She also took many psychology and language courses. Later in life, she acquired a master's in Computer Science from Rivier College, in Nashua, NH.

When asked why computer science, which at the time was quite a new career path, she said "I took the first course and absolutely fell in love with it. I thought it was the coolest thing, ever." As for anthropology, she said that she really valued her studies in it because, it "gives you a whole different perspective on people and culture and society".

Once graduated, she ended up taking up a job at Digital Equipment Cooperation, as a software engineer. Through her career, she did many interesting jobs that often intertwined with those first years at Digital.

Some of her roles included coding, QA, technical writing, and being a project leader. She worked for Compaq, Hewlett-Packard (hp), Dell, MathWorks, among others. One of her favorite jobs was being a software support worker at COG. With them, she got to go and travel through Europe for a month teaching in different places, which she said she quite enjoyed.

Her final job, which she worked at until the end, was with VSI. VSI was a new company that formed to take over the support of OpenVMS, a widely used but antiquated operating system. VMS was written by Digital/Compaq/Hewlett-Packard, and so VSI founders hired many of the previous software engineers who had created it, including Nancy. She said, working at VSI was like "coming home".

In her personal life, she got married at the age of 27, on the 21st of August, 1982, to a man named Henry "Terry" Grieb, who she had met at Digital. They were married for 12 years until their divorce in 1995, and had two girls, Karen and Paula. They met in Chicago, where her family was from, and moved to New Hampshire for his work. Nancy lived in New Hampshire, in the small towns of Hollis and Brookline, (minus a couple years in Boise, Idaho) until the end.

Nancy loved to read. She was always reading multiple books at once, and her house was lined with bookshelves. She particularly liked mysteries, romances, and non-fiction. Likewise, she loved to write, and had multiple books she was working on. She was well-known at the library, and for a while ran the Brookline writing club.

She was a very busy person, hardly ever stopping for a break. If you asked her to watch a show or movie, she would knit at the same time as watching, or get up part way through. During her pauses between the rush of days, you could catch her playing a word game on her phone, building a puzzle, reading a book, playing a computer game, or going swimming.

Growing up with Nancy as a mother, was filled with - Bedtime booktimes with snuggles, apples, and tea. Each new generation of video game system. Listening to her sing songs from her favorite musicals in the kitchen. Talking for hours, and learning about the latest book she had read. Hand knitted mittens. Being silly. Jokes that made us laugh until it hurt. ("It's ok as long as she's coughing...oh no she stopped coughing!") Visits to the ocean. Pets. So many pets. Her loving nicknames for her girls - peanut, little sweetie, lovebugs, baby girl, sweetheart. Astrology readings. Baking together. Playing board games. Going swimming at the lake or the Sheraton.

She loved houses, and horses. Libraries, crafts, gardening, and sweet smelling roses. She had so many tech toys, from her multiple tablets, to her Steam Deck and VR Headset. She sometimes went to church, and she believed strongly that we continue on after we die. She had an amazing intuition, and could feel when someone she cared about was sad from miles away. She was a sparkling person, with so much to give to the world, but she never really realized how amazing she was.

She is outlived by her four siblings, Richard "Dick" J. Roth, Sr., Alexander "Alex" Roth, Regina Roth, Michael "Mike" Roth, five nieces & nephews, Elsa Huxley, Justin Roth, Steven Roth, Amanda O'Connell, Douglas Roth, two daughters, Karen Peyton, Paula Grieb, and three grandchildren, Jade, Denver, and Eska Peyton. Also her four much loved cats, Sadie, Tucker, Jasmine, and Maxie.

A special thanks to John Lee, her roommate and dear family friend, for taking such good care of her in her last days.

21 September, 2023 -

"My hint for life is simplify and enjoy

And most important is to love everybody."

- Nancy Roth

SERVICES: Calling hours will be held on Sunday, October 1, 2023, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the Smith & Heald Funeral Home, 63 Elm Street, Milford, NH 03055. A graveside service will be held on Monday, October 2, 2023, at 11:00 AM in the Pine grove cemetery, Brookline, NH all are invited to meet directly at the cemetery.