George Roberts (1918-2006)

ROBERTS, WESTROPE, DONOVAN

Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 4/14/2006 at 09:00:28

THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Thursday, April 13, 2006.

George R. Roberts, 87, of Ames and formerly of Phoenix, died of complications from lung cancer Monday, April 10, at Israel Family Hospice House in Ames. Burial will be at 10 a.m., Saturday April 15, in Walnut Ridge Cemetery in Virginia, Ill. A memorial service will be at a later date at Trinity Cathedral in Phoenix.

George Robinson Roberts was born April 18, 1918, in Jacksonville, Ill., to Albert E. and Nellie P. (Westrope) Roberts. Raised during the depression, he left school after the ninth grade and held a variety of jobs for the next several years.

While working in Virginia, Ill., he met and later married Freda N. Donovan, a union that lasted 62 years until she died in 2000. Disqualified from military service during World War II by tuberculosis, he moved to Arizona, where he worked in the furniture business. He started his own company in 1963 and also owned and managed Deep Steam Extraction of Arizona. He retired in 1982 but remained active in his church, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, and his community by doing volunteer work. In August 2005, he moved to Iowa to be near his children. He resided at The Rose of Ames, and he made many friends during his short time here.

He always was ready with a joke and a piece of hard candy for his friends, acquaintances and strangers. He loved to watch the Phoenix Suns, the St. Louis Cardinals the Arizona Diamondbacks and NASCAR races on TV. As a raconteur, he would entertain young and old alike for hours at a time, never forgetting details from events that happened 60 years previously. His best stories, perhaps less suitable for "polite company," were positively hilarious.

He was preceded in death by his parents; seven siblings (Dorothy, Edgar, Jane, Joe, Ruth, David and Marybelle), and his wife.

He is survived by his son, David; his daughter, Dianne, and his grandson, R.D., all of Ames. He also is survived by his other four "sons" to whom he was a second father (Dick Williams of Burnsville, Minn., John Hale of Phoenix, Dennis Murphy of Mesa, Ariz., and Paul West of Phoenix), along with numerous nephews, nieces, great nephews and great nieces.

Visitation with the family will be from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday April 14, at Massie-Buchanan Funeral Home in Virginia, Ill.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to Homeward Hospice of Ames (c/o Mary Greeley Medical Center, 1114 Duff Ave., Ames IA, 50010) or St. John's by the Campus Episcopal Church (2338 W. Lincoln Way, Ames IA, 50014).

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