Roxanne Malmquist Royce, 65, a property manager for luxury residential high-rises, died of throat cancer at her Chicago home Sunday, March 10. Mrs. Royce specialized in “opening” buildings, from sitting down with the architects all the way through to leasing the apartments in the finished product. “She dealt with traffic flow, the laundry room, health-club issues, where the dry cleaners would be. She demanded that they put extra effort into the quality and design,” said longtime friend Lorie Highfill, who is also in real estate. The results included Lincoln Park Towers, 2020 Lincoln Park West, Chestnut Place, Orleans Court and 420 E. Ohio. What made Mrs. Royce successful, her friend said, was the ability to connect with people. “Everyone was special to Roxanne: the doorman, the maintenance man, the resident, the president of the company,” she said. At any social gathering Mrs. Royce would “work the room,” Highfill added. “Everyone in the place would know Roxanne before she walked out.” Mrs. Royce met her husband, Martin, in the mid-1990s. The couple had been married not quite three years at the time of her death. “When we got married, I had inscribed on the inside of the ring, `To the end of forever.’ Forever came too soon,” her husband said. Mrs. Royce is also survived by two stepchildren, Julie and Wesley, and two step-grandchildren. A memorial service is being planned.
