DORIS JEAN ROBERTS

Doris Jean Roberts was born April 25, 1923, in Omaha, Nebraska, the daughter of Edward and Amanda Sohl Rickers. She passed away December 30, 2010, in Irvine, California, at the age of 87.

Jean spent her early years on a beautiful farm with her parents and sister, Lois, north of Westside, Iowa. A tributary creek of the Boyer River ran through their back pasture. Her fondest memories were of growing up with her family on their farm: picking apples and elderberries with her mother and sister, playing with her beloved cats, and helping her mother plant flowers in the garden. She enjoyed listening to her father tell her stories, while he milked cows in the barn, about the Rickers family's early life in Blue Island, Illinois. She was particularly fond of a puppy named Trixie that her grandfather, Fred Rickers, gave her one year for her birthday. In the summers, her family would picnic at Adam's Ranch in Odebolt, Iowa, where she enjoyed playing and swinging on a rope in the hayloft with her cousins. She also loved the annual summer Rickers-Sohl family reunions in Woodbine, Iowa.

Jean received her education in a one-room rural schoolhouse known as Jackson Center #5 near her home in Crawford County about five miles north of Vail in Jackson Township. She also took piano lessons, enjoyed music, and loved to dance. In 1936, following her parents' tragic death in an auto accident near their farm, she and her sister moved to Omaha (Millard), Nebraska. She went to live with her uncle and aunt, Roy and Irene Sohl Gans, and her cousins, Ellene and Norma, who were like sisters to her. She attended Millard High School and graduated from Boyles Business College in 1941.

In 1943, Jean moved to Los Angeles where she worked at Alcoa Aluminum supporting the country's war effort during World War II. Later, she worked as a printing press operator at Fibreboard Corporation where she met her future husband, David Roberts. They married in 1951 and had a daughter, Sheila, in 1952. In addition to being a wonderful homemaker and a loving mother, she was also an employee of Vons Grocery Company and a sales representative for Avon Products, Van de Kamps Bakery, and J.C. Penney's Department store. In 1981, she retired from Benjamin Moore & Co.

During the 1990s, Jean lived happily in Bellflower, California, at Belmont Place, a retirement community for active senior citizens where she had many friends. She loved to sew and crochet, enjoyed taking long walks with her stepson, Fred, and having lunch on the weekends with her daughter, Sheila, at her favorite restaurant, Mimi's Café. She was also active in her church and community. She was a member of First Baptist Church and St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Lynwood, California, and later Downey First Baptist Church in Downey, California. At St. Paul's Lutheran Church, she served on the Board of Deaconesses, and as part of their Sunday School staff, she enjoyed teaching all the kindergartners.

In 2002, Jean moved to The Villa retirement community in nearby Downey where a wonderful, caring staff looked after her and made every effort to create a genuine feeling of family and community. She was very happy there and made many new friends. Later, she moved to the Rose Garden in Mission Viejo where her caregivers, Cesar and Leoni Cabanban, Dominador Tuyong and Dolores Padua, took exceptional care of her and brought great joy to her life. On the weekends, she delighted in going for drives with her daughter to Lake Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach. She enjoyed good health until late 2010 when her health gradually failed.

Jean was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and stepson. She is survived by her daughter, Sheila; sister, Lois; and her cousin, Norma; and many wonderful relatives and friends.

Funeral services were held at 2 P.M., Friday, January 7, 2011, at the United Church Westside in Westside, Iowa. Pastor Richard Francis officiated the service and graveside rites held at the Westside Cemetery. Organist Janine Kock provided the accompaniment for EveVonne Muff singing "Amazing Grace, How Sweet The Sound," and congregational hymns "In The Garden," and "Abide With Me." Serving as pallbearers were Richard Hibbeler, Robert Rickers, Curtis Rickers, Ivan Rickers, Doug Rickers and Allen Sohl. The family invited everyone in attendance at the service to join them in fellowship and lunch at the church, served by the United Church Women. The Huebner Funeral Home in Westside was in charge of arrangements.