ROBERTS, Esther

The White Mountain Independent, Show Low, Arizona ~ October 16, 2008 Esther Roberts died Monday, Oct. 13, 2008, after an extended illness. She was born Sept. 21, 1926, to Frank Vanburen Ryan and Mabel Ryan at Kansas City, Miss. She had two older siblings who, along with her parents, all preceded her in death. At the age of 3, her father abandoned his family, faking suicide off a bridge. When she was about 5 or 6, she and her siblings were sent from the East Coast where they had been living with their mother to live with their great grandparents in Milton Freewater, Ore. For reasons not fully known, Esther and her sister were left in Kansas with a great aunt. Due to the aunt's poor health, they were sent to live with two separate neighbors who were complete strangers, until such time as their mother could pick them up two or three years later. This was a very traumatizing incident in Esther's life. Her sister was killed in a motorcycle accident when she was 17. Esther quit school while a sophomore and married a sailor named William Murlin Cox. Two children were born of this marriage. She later married Joe Elsey, a man she had become acquainted with during her school days. That marriage foundered quickly and one son was born. After living with her parents as a widow for several years, she met and married Leonard Roberts with whom she spent the next 53 years. She worked for a time at the drugstore at Loma Linda. For a short period of time she worked as a colporteur and then spent the rest of her working life working at Paradise Valley Hospital in National City, Calif., from which she retired. Esther and Leonard enjoyed camping and traveling and spent a considerable time enjoying the beauties of the western states. Esther had a creative streak and excelled working at crafts. It was work that she loved and enjoyed. She suffered through the years with hay fever which later turned to asthma. Many is the time that her husband rushed her to the emergency room with an asthma attack. Gradually her memory began to fail, and by the time of her death, it had deteriorated to the extent that she could no longer function on her own. Even up to the time of her death, she awakened always with a smile and a positive attitude. She leaves to mourn her passing her husband Leonard Roberts; two sons, William Merlin Cox and Jacky Lee Roberts; one daughter, Lorrene Adelle Crump; 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m., Nov. 1, at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Springerville at the corner of US 60 and Gutierrez Street. Interment was held at the Springerville Cemetery, Thursday, Oct. 16, at 2 p.m. Burnham Mortuary of Eagar handled the arrangements. Visit burnhammortuary.com to send condolences to the family.