Chrissi Roche

When Dusty Hootie Roche thinks of his wife and our March Women of Wool Feature, Chrissi Nicholas Roche, four or five things come to mind when it refers to ranching. 1. Her packing panels while 9-months pregnant putting them back on the trailer with a swift creek coming through the middle of the corrals and falling in with the panel on top of her & her belly. 2. Moving cows on a hot summer day running out of water ourselves and parting the wasp & bees dead on top of the water to get a clear gulp of water in the trough with the cows. 3. Her driving stick shift trucks with trailers to pick up herders at the airport or transporting a 40 foot sheep plant back after a shearer broke down 300 miles away. 4. All the meals she’s cooked, parts she’s picked up and vehicles she helps shuttle around are beyond my memory through the years. One things for certain is she’s always been there and I’ve caught myself thinking multiple times in my head, “don’t you ever be mad at her, she’s the coolest and hardest-working gal around.” She’s also the best-looking gal I know, said Dusty. Chrissi is a hard worker. Her parents taught her that with a couple jobs that she had in high school, and then helping me while dating in high school here and there with ranch & farming jobs. She just never could escape me; I hypnotized her thinking Roche’s sheep and cattle are actually something to seek after! Although a tough life and dangerous at times, we’ve always seem to keep above water and are glad we have a ranch another year. With the help & protection from the good Lord above and our Peruvian employees and other ranch managers that live here in Utah and abroad we make it. One thing that has kept our operation successful is like life and marriage (we are the farthest from perfect by the way) the fact that we trust one another and capitalize on one another’s strengths. My grandmother kept this place together with her school money, then my Mother and Father took a chance and bought another ranch and barely kept it together. My brother and I expanded the operation and are still trying to hold it together, but it means nothing without family! That’s what Dusty thinks of when he thinks of Chriss. Dusty’s father oversees the ranches and works every day on the operation currently. It doesn’t make it without everybody. Chrissi is a hard worker still not only from the ranch, but she’s a full-time housewife, which is the hardest job in the world. She’s also a flight attendant to help keep our benefits for insurance. Folks in the agricultural business know that’s what many of us do, but Chrissi, going on 17 years as an airline flight attendant, she’s got that down pretty good! Chrissi can’t wait until thier kids get a little older so she can make it out on the ranch more. She’s been neglected and wanting to come out a lot more, but she knows where her first purpose should be and that’s running kids around everywhere. Thanks Chrissi for your commitment to not only you family, but your sheep industry family as well.