Homage to Jean Roche

It was with deep sadness that we learnt that Jean Roche had died.

Jean was one of those quietly efficient and conscientious pillars of our community who beaver away unobtrusively for decades and make such a contribution to building CERN.

An expert in thermal engineering, he left his mark on many buildings on the Meyrin and Prévessin sites.
At the time of the LEP project at the beginning of the 1980s he was in charge of defining the principles of the ventilation systems for the new accelerator. Through his design studies and the calls for tenders that he launched, he developed these high-performance state-of-the-art installations which not only made LEP’s successes possible but also served as benchmarks for the fundamental principles underpinning the design of the LHC ventilation system.

Jean always liked to surround himself with young people and during the years of his stewardship the design office was a splendid training ground. Despite his responsibilities, Jean was always keen to share his expertise with others and to transmit the basic tenets of his know-how.
Mediocrity and a lack of respect for other people were alien to him, receptive as he was to many disciplines and largely self-taught, and it was a genuine pleasure to work alongside him.

Your sudden death after that of your wife has greatly saddened us.
We say farewell to you, Jean. Even though death spares no man, those whom we love never really leave us completely.

Your friends and former colleagues express their deep condolences to your children Gilles and Hélène, to your grandchildren and to the whole family.