Jill Greene Roach

Jill Greene Roach passed away Friday, June 20, 2025.

Jill was born in Mecklenburg County to the late Walter James Caswell Jr., and the late Marcelin Greene Caswell. She was raised by grandparents, the late Herbert Greene and Glennie Phifer Greene, who surrounded her with love. Jill also had a special bond with her Aunt Juanita Rimmer, a woman who embraced and loved Jill as a daughter throughout her life.

Jill attended Kannapolis City schools and graduated from A.L. Brown High School, and later from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro with a degree in early childhood education. That same year she began a 38-year career in education. First, in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, teaching first grade at Hidden Valley Elementary. After marrying Doug, the new family lived for several years in Ft. Pierce, FL. where Jill taught adult classes at Indian River Community College. After returning to Kannapolis, Jill joined Kannapolis City Schools, teaching first grade at Aycock Elementary. As the years passed, she assumed increasingly challenging positions. She taught AG classes, became the school’s curriculum coordinator, and in 1992, Jill became the principal of Aycock. She earned the Kannapolis City Schools Principal of the Year Award 4 different times over her 17 years as principal at Aycock and later Forest Park Elementary. In 2002 she was runner-up for Regional Principal of the Year honors in North Carolina.

During this time, while caring for her family, Jill took night and weekend classes, earning a master’s degree in K-3 education and her principal’s certificate from UNC-C. She also graduated from the Principal Executive Program in Chapel Hill. No one loved their job more than Jill. She spent countless hours working to make her school the best it could be. She believed “the students came first” but was always supportive of the teachers and staff. Finding ways to get them the resources they need to help their students succeed. During her career she was a positive influence on thousands of students in the Kannapolis City Schools. In 2009, Jill retired to spend more time with family. She and Doug enjoyed traveling in their motor home, including a two-month trip to the west coast. They loved trips to sunny Florida in the winter and the North Carolina mountains in the summer. But Jill couldn’t sit still for long. She became more involved in activities at Trinity United Methodist Church, singing in the choir and organizing volunteers for an after-school tutoring program for middle school students needing help with reading. She was a member of the Kneeling Gardeners Garden club, serving as president for two years.

Jill is preceded in death by her son, Brian Garrett Roach.

She is survived by her husband of 53 years, James Douglas Roach, her daughter Holly Roach Coward of Kannapolis, seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Jill is also survived by her half-sister, Susie Griffin Kinninmont (James) of Isfield, East Sussex, UK, and her half-brother Scott Griffith (Susanne) of Mount Holly, NC.

The family will receive friend Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 416 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Kannapolis from 9 until 10:30 a.m. followed by a Memorial Service at 10:30 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family ask that memorials be made to Trinity United Methodist Church, 416 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Kannapolis, NC 28083, Hospice and Palliative Care of Cabarrus County, 5003 Hospice Lane, Kannapolis, NC 28081 and the American Alzheimer’s Association.

The family wishes to thank the care team at Hospice and Palliative Care of Cabarrus County for their professional and compassionate care through these difficult times and a very special thanks to Jill’s long-time caregiver, Sherry Hicks, whose care and devotion to Jill has endeared her to our family forever.