By Kristina Goetz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COLLEGE HILL - Alice Roth's devotion reached beyond the bonds of family and her church to places she never visited, through the beads she fashioned into rosaries.

For 50 years, Roth lived in College Hill and was an active member of St. Clare Church. She was one of the founders of the PTA at St. Clare School and a member of the bereavement committee, a group of women who call themselves the "Goodbye Girls," said her son, Victor Roth of Oakley. They stand in at funeral Masses when there are few family members to attend.

But her accomplishments made the church bulletin after she reached the 1,000 mark for the number of rosaries she made as a member of the St. Clare Rosary Makers Guild. They were given to missionaries who were in the United States on sabbatical. These men and women then took them to China, India, Africa and Central America, said longtime friend Marge Bischoff of College Hill.

She also made rosaries for each of her children. Victor Roth's was made of shamrock beads, a reminder of Mrs. Roth's Irish roots. And she gave him a reminder sheet, he said, for how to pray the rosary.

Her faith was strong.

"It's something she held very dear and had strong convictions about," said Mrs. Roth's youngest daughter, Peggy Gigax of Kenwood. "She was a very religious person."

Mrs. Roth died Feb. 5 at Hospice in Blue Ash at age 77 of congestive heart and renal failure.

Born in Terre Haute, Ind., Mrs. Roth loved theater and speech competitions, family members said. She went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Indiana State University and a master's degree from Ohio State University.

For 25 years, she served children in the Cincinnati Public Schools as a speech pathologist.

"Everybody's mother is a saint, but my mother really was," Victor Roth said. "She had a lot of merit badges for sainthood. I hope it gets passed down to the next generation."

She was preceded in death by her husband, William, in 1987. In addition to her son and daughter, survivors include three other sons, William Roth Jr. of Harrison, Ohio, Tim Roth of Deer Park and Joe Roth of Springfield Township; two other daughters, Patricia Jenniches of San Diego and Mary Roth of Springfield Township; eight grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

Services have been held. Entombment was at Spring Grove Cemetery Mausoleum.

E-mail kgoetz@enquirer.com