Beloved wife, loving mother, doting grandmother, adoring great-grandmother, faithful Christian and lifelong educator, Mrs. Edna M. Roshell quietly transitioned to eternal life with Our Lord on Monday, September 25, 2023, at her home in Rison, Arkansas.
Edna Mae Brown was the first of fifteen children born to the late Richard Brown, Sr. and Lucy Ann (Roberts) Brown in Augusta, Arkansas on October 13, 1943.
She graduated from George Washington Carver High School of Augusta in 1961, and the Agriculture Mechanical and Normal College (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) in 1965.
Miss Brown completed her student teaching in Rison, AR at Lanwood High School under the supervision of the principal and—as fate would have it—a young social studies teacher named Andrew Roshell, Jr., whom she would ultimately marry. She spent her first year as a full-time teacher (1965-1966) at Lake Village School District in Lake Village. She and Mr. Roshell, Jr. married on March 23, 1967, and together the couple integrated the professional staff as the first Black certified academic educators of Rison Public Schools in the fall of 1967. Mrs. Roshell earned a Master’s degree from East Texas State University (Texas A&M University-Commerce) in 1973 and worked as the library media specialist for Rison Public Schools until her retirement in 1996. Mrs. Roshell also worked as a part-time instructor for Cleveland County Adult Education Center of Southern Arkansas Tech at Camden from 1990 through 2013. She pursued continuing education classes and workshops at other institutions of higher education throughout Arkansas: SAU-Magnolia, UA-Little Rock, UA-Fayetteville, HU- Arkadelphia, Arkansas Tech-Russellville, UCA-Conway, UAM- Monticello, ASU-Jonesboro.
As a dedicated public servant, Mrs. Roshell served on several State of Arkansas Department of Education Committees and North Central Evaluation Teams. She was a member of professional organizations throughout her forty-eight years of teaching including: Arkansas Teachers Association, Arkansas and National Education Associations, Arkansas Educational Media Association, Arkansas and National Library Associations, Central and Rison Teacher Education Associations, Arkansas Association of Adult and Continuing Education, Arkansas Student Librarian Association, and UAPB National Alumni Association. She participated in local community activities and organizations, including the Head Start, Hometown Health Coalition, Single Parents Scholarships, and Lions Club for Cleveland County. Mrs. Roshell was also a member of Arkansas Extension Homemakers/Friendship Association, Pine Bluff Jefferson County Economic Opportunity Commission, Inc., Lighthouse of Wisdom Youth Center in Rison, Arkansas, the TEA Coalition, Project Success, Rison in the Fall and was a Co-Founder-Lanwood–Risonian-Civic & Social Club, Inc. She worked to outlaw the poll tax that restricted American citizens’ right to vote, promoted voter registrations, and worked the polls for multiple elections. Mrs. Roshell was also the leader of Girl Scout Troop #209 and in that capacity, she encouraged young girls in Rison to remain curious and exposed them to new adventures, activities and experiences.
Mrs. Roshell was a social butterfly who never met a stranger. She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, and Youth Fraternity Leader in Rison, AR. She was an active member of the Gems Civic and Social Club of Pine Bluff, a friend of the Sensible Women Initiative, Inc. and the Traveling Friends, a group of Black retired educators with whom she and her husband enjoyed several cross-country road trips and adventures. Together, Mrs. Roshell and her husband visited 47 states.
Mrs. Roshell was also very politically active, having met with former First Lady of Arkansas, Hillary Rodham Clinton to develop stronger libraries in Arkansas schools. In her tireless quest to improve the quality of education in Arkansas, she worked with Governor Bill Clinton and several grassroots committees, First Lady Rosalyn Carter, Governor Dale Bumpass, Senator William Fulbright, Senator David Pryor, Senator Henry Wilkins, IV, and other legislators. She worked with Representative Josetta Wilkins to promote positive images of the University Medical System of Little Rock. But the highlight of her political activity was campaigning for and attending the 2008 Inauguration of Barack Obama.
Mrs. Roshell became a Christian at a very early age and was the first person baptized at the Colored Church of Christ in Augusta, AR. As a teenager, she began her service to the Lord as a Sunday school teacher for children and young adults at the Church of Christ in Augusta, AR and, per Revelation 2:10, she served as a member of the Church of Christ in Rison, Arkansas for the remainder of her life.
She is welcomed in Heaven by her parents, Richard and Lucy Brown, Sr.; her parents-in-law, Andrew and Annie Roshell, Sr.; two brothers, Richard Brown and Billy Brown, two sisters, Carolyn Johnson and Lucille Brown; a sister-in-law Shane (Robert) Brown; brothers-in-law James (Shirley) Roshell of Flint, MI, and Harvey (Essie) Benton of Rison, AR and a granddaughter Jordan Roshell.
She leaves to celebrate her memory her loving husband of 56 years, Andrew Roshell, Jr. of Rison, AR; her three children: Cheryl (Ronnie) Roshell-Grice of Manhattan, KS, Andrew (LaTarsha) Roshell, III of Rison, AR, and Alicia Roshell of Washington, DC; her grandchildren John Grice, Madison, WI, Imani (Malik) Moore of Rison, AR, Courtney Grice of Petersburg, VA, Ashley Roshell, Andrew Roshell, IV, Lauryn Roshell and Londyn Roshell; her great-grandchildren Caden Moore and Jade Moore; her bonus daughter Jametta (Lee) Harper—all from Rison, AR; seven brothers, Robert Brown of Jacksonville, AR, James (Patricia) Brown of Chicago, Il, Calvin (Eleanor) Brown, Almos Lewis (Joyce) Brown, Willie Lee Brown, Michael Brown and Edward (Carmen) Brown all of Augusta, AR; three sisters, Ruby Anthony Long, and Priscilla Ann Brown of Augusta, AR, and Brenda Brown of Searcy, AR; an uncle John Roberts of San Diego, CA; and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews, extended family, friends and finally thousands of students, upon whose lives she has left an indelible mark.
Public visitation will be held on Friday, September 29, from 5:30pm until 7:00pm at Brown Funeral Home in Pine Bluff, AR. Funeral services will be Saturday, September 30, at 1:00pm at the Rison Church of Christ in Rison, AR. The processional will begin at 12:00 noon at the family home, at 6130 Hwy 133 in Rison, AR.
Interment will be at the New Cemetery in Rison, AR by Brown Funeral Home. Floral arrangements will be handled by The Berry Patch in Rison, AR.
Active pallbearers are Edward Brown, Andre Johnson, Michael Barnett, Anthony Smith, Harvey Benton and Harrell Wilson. Honorary pallbearers are Andrew Roshell, III, Calvin Brown, Almos Lewis Brown, Ronnie Grice, James Brown, Willie Lee Brown, Michael Roy Brown and John Grice.
The family of Edna M. Roshell would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for every act of love and kindness that has been shown to them during this extremely trying and difficult time. Your thoughts, prayers, phone calls, visits, flowers, cards and everything you did to help make this day a bit easier is greatly appreciated. May God bless and keep you all.
Obituary submitted by The Family.