TRIBUTES have been paid to lifelong republican and activist Anna Roe who passed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends at her home on February 12.
Anna, who was a lifelong activist in the Riverdale area, came from a republican family, and was sister to respected republican Jimmy Roe who died in 1996, as well as George and Marie Roe, who were also lifelong activists.
Anna’s father, George Roe, was a volunteer during the conflict in the 1920s, and her mother, Emilia Roe, was of Italian descent, who had ancestors who fought with Giuseppe Garibaldi during the wars for Italian unification.
Throughout her life Anna was deeply involved in the Green Cross, an organisation dedicated to helping the families of imprisoned volunteers, as well as the National Graves Association, which marks and maintains the graves of fallen volunteers and republican activists.
Sinn Féin Councillor for the Colin area, Matt Garrett, expressed his sympathies to Anna's family and friends, saying she was a much-respected member of the local community.
“I would like to extend my deepest sympathies from ourselves to her family and friends, and she will be badly missed," said Matt. "She was a very well respected republican. She was a small woman, but she had a massive heart.
"She worked tirelessly for the Green Cross and the National Graves Association, but also on a local level she worked for years and years helping with elections. She would have been at the polling station from first thing in the morning to the last thing at night. She would help in any way that she could.”
Matt added: “Her brother was Volunteer Jimmy Roe. They were a widely respected family. Everyone I have talked to regarding Anna has held her up there in very high esteem, and she will be badly missed by the community.”
Anna Roe was buried in Milltown Cemetery.
