Obituary of Thomasina “Terry” LaToche

THOMASINA “TERRY” LATOCHE, of Tuxedo, NY, passed away on March 7, 2024. Born on September 30, 1934, in Queens, NY to Thomas and Helen Gleeson Fitzgerald, she graduated from St. Gabriel’s High School and worked for a short time for the Bank of London & South America. After her marriage to Harold F. Rose in 1954, she moved to Rockland County, residing in Mt. Ivy, West Haverstraw, and Stony Point, and worked for many years as a waitress, while raising her five children. She then began a career with NY State as a caregiver at Letchworth Village, and later in several of its off-site residences, retiring from Warwick’s “Four Corners” in 2005 and moving in with her daughter Cindy and her family in Tuxedo.

Terry enjoyed crossword puzzles, watching movies, and spending time on the beach, particularly her childhood retreat of Sound Beach on Long Island. She loved berry-picking and took special pleasure in eating seafood and fresh summer corn and tomatoes.

Known for her exceptional wit, generously sprinkled with blunt candor, Terry’s greatest love was her family, and she never stopped mourning the loss of two of her sons, Michael Rose and Joseph Latoche, Jr., in a tragic house fire in 1974, along with her husband, Joseph Latoche, Sr.,

Predeceased as well by her brother Thomas and his wife Arline Fitzgerald of Lindenhurst, NY, Terry is survived by two sisters, Helen Troy of California and Carol (Bob) Cordes of South Carolina, a daughter, Cynthia (Peter) Dedel of Tuxedo, two sons, Harold (Susan) Rose of Westbrookville and Robert (Barbara)Rose of Stony Point, nine grandchildren, three great grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren.

Memorial visitation will be held on Saturday, March 16, 2024 from 3pm-7pm at TJ McGowan Sons Funeral Home in Garnerville, NY. Gifts may be made in Terry’s memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105, or online.