Roberta Ann "Herman" Wirth

LINCOLN

Roberta (Herman) Wirth was born October 6,1935 to Wendell and Anna (Locke) Herman at their home in Lincoln County Kansas. She was welcomed by her big brother, Charles, and several years later they were joined by sister, Carol (Gabelmann), and brother, Richard. Her early years were spent helping with some of the typical chores of life on the family farm-- gathering eggs, gardening, and milking cows. She also enjoyed participating in their local 4-H club.

She received her elementary education at Prairie Grove School, a one room schoolhouse near her home. She talked of riding bikes to school with Carol and a neighbor girl, but we do NOT recall her mentioning it being "uphill both ways!" She graduated with the Class of 1953 from Lincoln High School and then went on to get her bachelor's degree in home economics at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, graduating in 1957.

On August 17,1957, Roberta married Donald Wirth at Bethany Baptist Church. God blessed Don and Roberta with 63 years of building their life together; four daughters, Dalene, Tricia, Colleen, Brenda; and one son, Russell, who died as an infant.

We wish that each one of you could have known our mom like we had the privilege of knowing her and we recognize that many of you have memories of her before any of us arrived on the scene-which we would love to hear as well, but here is a peek at her life from the perspective of her daughters.

Over the years mom filled so many roles…daughter, sister, devoted wife and mother, "favorite mother-in-law" to four handsome sons-in-law, grandmother of seventeen, great grandmother of twenty-six, and faithful friend to many. She was an accomplished seamstress-constructing many articles of clothing for us over the years including four beautiful wedding dresses, various hand work including quilting, embroidering and crocheting, cooking, bookkeeping, piano playing, and tractor driving-just to mention a few. ;)

Mom trusted in Jesus Christ as her Savior during a revival in her early teens and continued to grow in her walk with the Lord throughout the remainder of her life, setting us an example of the priority of spending time in God's Word and a desire to walk in obedience to the truth she learned there. Her faith and hope as a child of God was evident in her life of service and care for those around her. She was an active member at Bethany Baptist Church, a member of the Ladies' Mission Circle, and helped to lead the Scripture Memory Program alongside other godly women committed to helping us hide God's Word in our hearts.

As her parents' health declined, Mom made many trips to Salina with Grandpa Herman for his dialysis and also patiently cared for Grandma Herman when she required full time assistance during her final years. While she was more homebound with caregiving, she found a meaningful way to minister to others through encouraging notes and postcards. Even in these last years as we saw Mom's memory failing, we continued to see the evidence of God's work in her through her sweet and thankful spirit for the care we gave her often expressed simply and clearly at the end of the day-- "Thanks for all you're doing for me."

Mom always loved being outdoors, petting our dogs, singing and humming familiar hymns, all things family - large gatherings, a stop by to say "Hi", a visit on the phone, and especially her annual visits from her sister at pheasant season, something sweet at the end of each meal, poetry, orderliness, sleeping in during her later years, and the beauty of God's creation – especially sunsets.

She was an industrious worker and meticulous in all that she did-- whether it was helping care for us as a family and our home, sewing, cleaning the church, keeping records as church clerk or farm books for Dad and Grandpa Herman. She paid attention to details and worked until things were in order. This was also evidenced by her hobbies-putting together jigsaw puzzles, doing sudokus, and playing Tetris and Solitaire on the computer. "A place for everything, and everything in its place."

Mom passed into her eternal home on the morning of Thursday, September 25, 2025, just eleven days shy of her 90th birthday. We miss her, especially the way we remember her from days gone by-but we rejoice in her gain, that she is praising the Lord with a mind and body free from the limitations of this fallen world. It is comforting to know that we will see her again one day!

She is survived by her daughters: Dalene (Brian) Plank, Wichita; Tricia (Richard) Brock, rural Lincoln County; Colleen (Bill) Biggs, Lincoln; and Brenda (Clayton) Laird, Wichita; grandchildren, Joel (Tina) Plank, Justin (Mary) Brock, Arminda (Ben) Haumesser, Taylor Lebien, Zachary (Annie) Brock, Jordan (Jacky) Plank, Austin (Amber) Biggs, Joseph (Lydia) Brock, Shiloh (Lillian) Brock, Benjamin (Savannah) Brock, Drew (Venessa) Biggs, Chloe Laird, Aubrey Laird, Alexis Biggs, Nathaniel Brock, Isaac Laird, and Phoebe Laird; and twenty-six great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; three siblings; infant son, Russell; and husband, Donald.

A visitation will be held 1-7 p.m., Friday, October 3, 2025 at Hall Chapel of Lincoln. Family will be present to greet visitors 5-7 p.m.

A burial service will take place at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, October 4, 2025 at Bethany Cemetery, rural Lincoln County. A celebration of life service will follow at 11:00 a.m., Saturday at Bethany Church.

Memorial contributions can be made to Bethany Church, c/o, Hall Chapel, PO Box 37, Lincoln, KS 67455.