Marie Mercury Roth, Ph. D.

Marie Mercury Roth, Ph. D., formerly of Brookfield, Wisconsin, passed away peacefully on January 3rd, 2020 at her home in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, surrounded by her family.

She is survived by daughters: Catherine (Roger M.) Holcomb of Wilmington, DE, Joanne (James) Wendelberger of Los Alamos, NM, and Nancy Roth of Annapolis, MD; grandchildren: Allison Holcomb, Diane Holcomb, Barbara Wendelberger, Elizabeth (James) Smyth, Laura Wendelberger, and Patrick Malley; and great-granddaughter, Genevieve Smyth. She was predeceased by her husband of 52 years, Donald A. Roth, M.D. in 2003, and her son Charles N. Roth in 2016.

Marie Louise Mercury was born in Boston, MA on April 30, 1926, daughter of Nicholas and Josephine (Borré) Mercurio.  She graduated from the Girls’ Latin School of Boston, MA and received the degrees of B. A. summa cum laude in 1945 and M. A. in chemistry in 1947 from Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA and Ph. D. in organic chemistry in Dec. 1951 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Sigma Xi scientific honor society.  Her professional career included work as an abstractor for Chemical Abstracts; literature chemist for Arthur D. Little, Cambridge, MA and Pittsburgh Plate Glass Paint Division in Milwaukee; and teaching positions at Carroll College, the UW Center System, UW-Milwaukee, and Marquette University.  She was also active in the Milwaukee Section of the American Chemical Society as editor of the section publication, The Amalgamator, and served a term as section chairman.

Also a dedicated homemaker and mother, Marie was always deeply involved in her children’s school and recreational activities and served on the boards of the parent support groups as well as those at her parish of St. John Vianney in Brookfield.  She was also a founding member of the Milwaukee Mount Holyoke Club and of the Women in Science of Southeast Wisconsin and for many years was a docent for the Medical College of Wisconsin Auxiliary.  She travelled extensively, combining her deep interest in family history with seeing the U.S., Europe, and the seas.  She was an expert in genealogical research and ahead of her time using computers to discover and document her family’s history. She was an avid learner of languages and volunteered her talents as a translator of German historical records.

A visitation with the family will be held on January 24 from 2:30-4:15 p. m.  followed by a 4:30 p. m. memorial funeral Mass at the San Camillo Chapel, 10200 W. Bluemound Road, Wauwatosa.  Burial will be at a later date at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA. Memorials may be given in Marie’s honor to the Order of St. Camillus Foundation designating the Employee Appreciation Fund, 10200 W. Bluemound Road, Wauwatosa, WI 53226, or to Honours, Inc., Slinger High School Theisen/Roth Scholarship Fund, 209 Polk St., Slinger, WI 53086.

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