Alvera Josephine Roberts

Born May 29, 1929, in Rosebud Texas to Frank Sukup Jr. (b: January 13, 1905,-d: February 22, 1998) and Gertrude M. Jetter (b: July 14, 1907,-d: January 4, 1991). Alvera went to be with God on October 6, 2008, at 11:25 am after a long illness in Free State Crestwood Nursing Home in Wills Point Texas. Alvera was a devout Roman Catholic and a member of St. Michael's Catholic Church in Garland. Prior to moving out of Mesquite, Texas, Alvera was a long time member of St. Pius X in Dallas, Texas. When Jim, her husband passed away over five years ago she was never the same. Having lost her soul mate of over fifty years she was not able to engage life with the gusto and passion that she once possessed. She began a slow decline in health and spirit until she was now able to join him once again in heaven. Alvera was an avid camper, and loved to catch fish. Jim, her husband, and Alvera always owned a boat and were probably most at peace in the middle of any lake with an icy cold margarita, she loved a good margarita. Alvera loved to cook. She was old school, no-need-for-a-recipe kind of cook, and the food was always fantastic! She passed these cooking skills down to all of her children and they all learned their lessons well. Thanksgiving and Christmas were truly a special feast that were always shared with any and all family members and friends that were willing to drive over, as was any other day for that matter. Alvera was kind, religious, compassionate, and like her father, never met a stranger. She was a homemaker whose pride and joy were her five children and her husband, Jim. FAMILY ALWAYS CAME FIRST! Alvera and Jim made extreme financial sacrifices to assure that all their children attended Catholic Schools. This was of course a heavy financial burden that they were willing to assume in order for their children to have a Catholic education. Alvera loved animals and always had dogs or fish or birds to tend to. She also nurtured and kept wild doves that were too wounded to ever fly again. Alvera was raised in Rosebud Texas, and graduated from Rosebud High in May of 1947. She worked as an operator for the local phone company and was very active in the USO during the Korean War. Later in life she worked as a physical therapist for mentally and physically challenged children. On June 14, 1952 she married James Melton Roberts son of Willis Roberts (b: October 18, 1894,-d: September 17 1931) and Nova Mae Kelly (b: September 6,1898,-d: February 12,1972). Alvera and Jim moved to Dallas in 1953 where their first son, Michael A. (Drew) Roberts was born in Dallas, Texas. After a short stay in Dallas they moved back to Rosebud Texas, her hometown, and Jim started his schooling in the printing business and an apprenticeship with the Rosebud News. In 1955 their first daughter and second child Janette F. Roberts was born in Rosebud, Texas. Alvera and Jim started their own business opening the ROBERTS PRINTING Co., just off the downtown square of Georgetown, Texas. Although they are no longer associated with this shop, it still bears the Roberts name to this day. In 1956 while in Georgetown, Alvera had a second daughter and third child Patricia A. Roberts born in Rosebud, Texas. In 1959 they moved to Austin Texas where Alvera raised the three children and Jim continued to work at Color Press spending nights and weekends running his namesake shop in Georgetown. In 1961 their second son and fourth child James M. Roberts was born, also in Rosebud, Texas. The next year Color Press went bankrupt, and they turned the ROBERTS PRINTING Co. over to her Aunt Agnes Sukup Wanich, and Uncle Pete Sukup, and moved to Wolfe City, Texas for Jim to work for Henington Publishing Company. Two years later they moved to Mesquite, Texas a suburb of Dallas. In 1970 a third son and fifth child Anthony L. Roberts was born in Dallas, Texas. They ultimately settled in Sunnyvale, TX not far from their Mesquite roots. Alvera was an accomplished bridge player and not a week would go by that the bridge group would host a game that lasted all day. Of course someone would have to cook lunch and snacks. These became Alveras core group of close friends and to this day they still stay in touch and visit. She also loved to bowl and that became a weekly event as well. The one thing that you did not do was interfere with the watching of a Dallas Cowboy Football Game. To say that she was an enthusiastic supporter would be an understatement. She kept a log of all the scores of all the games played for years. Even in the nursing home she would not miss a Cowboy Game. What a fan! Alvera loved to crochet or knit afghans. All of us kids proudly have several in our possession. While in the nursing home she would crochet small kitchen towels and gave them as gifts, they were in very high demand. Even now, some of the nursing home staff request them, they were always appreciated. Due to unfortunate circumstances, just about the time Alvera was going to get a break from raising children, she had support her daughter-in-law in raising Alveras grand children for a period of time. While in the nursing home and preparing for death there were many conversations with family members and priest about religion, God, and death. One sometimes wonders why people are left to their suffering. Well we got our answer. Alveras roommate in the nursing home could not help but overhear these candid private conversations. Apparently the room mate was agnostic, not a believer in Christ, however, Alveras unwavering unconditional faith in God won her room mate over. This was totally unsolicited and actually Alvera was completely unaware of her spiritual influence on her room mate. The room mate requested to be saved! One of Alveras favorite saying was; God works in mysterious ways . You be the judge on this one. She was preceded in death by her father, Frank Sukup Jr., her mother, Gertrude M. Jetter, and her husband of over fifty-one years, James M. Roberts (b: May 31, 1929 d: August 22, 2003) She is survived by: Her brother Leander C. Sukup, and wife Mae of Jonestown Texas, 1 niece, Bethany, and 2 nephews, Nicholas and Frank, 4 great-nieces; Elisha, Sherity, Courtney, Ashley and 3 great-nephews; Christopher, Justin, and Jessie Lee son Michael (Drew) and wife Susan and her grand children Abigail, Wesley, and Kelsey; daughter Janette Roberts Blair and her husband Bob; daughter Patricia Roberts Mills and her husband Dan, and her grand children Nicole and Natalie; son James, and her grand children of James Jr.; Cathi, Kimberly, Cristina, and Karri son Anthony, and her grand children of Anthony; Kristina and Tyler; and five Great Grand Children; Austin, Tyler, Dylan, Skyler, and Dalton All of the above survivors deeply loved Alvera and she will be profoundly missed by all who knew her. In lieu of flowers please send a donation in memoriam of Alvera, to St. Lukes Catholic Mission Church, c/o Janette Blair, P.O. Box 112, Wills Point, Texas 75169. Service will be 11:00AM Thursday October 9, 2008 at Sacred Heart Cemetery Mausoleum, 3900 Rowlett Rd., Rowlett, TX. 75088. Family will receive friends at the funeral home Wednesday evening from 6:00PM - 8:00PM.