Roberta Hirsch, 80, went to her heavenly home Friday, February 23, 2018 in McAllen, Texas.
Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 3 at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Farnhamville, with Pastor Jerry Raether officiating. Burial of ashes will be at Paton Township Cemetery, east of Paton. Visitation will be 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 2, at the Palmer Funeral Home in Gowrie.
Roberta is survived by her husband, Roger; children: Rick and Avis (Livingston) Hirsch of Milaca, Minn., Randy and Roxanne (Urban) Hirsch of Paton, Russ and Connie (Baumgartner) Hirsch of Sioux Falls, S.D. and Renee and Rick Fausett of Jay, Okla.; 10 grandchildren: Autumn (Hirsch) and Del Mollet, Amberly (Hirsch) and Chase Suhsen, Jeremy Hirsch, Nathan and Darla (Slagle) Hirsch, Tyler and Ashley (Higgins) Hirsch, Brienna (Hirsch) and Patrick Meyer, Colin Hirsch, Cayla Hirsch, Kendra Fausett and Ethan Fausett; 10 great-grandchildren: Taylor Mollett, Logan Mollett, Jaden Hill (Jeremy), Logan Shearer, Jonathan Shearer, Bardon Hirsch, Spencer Hirsch, Isabella Hirsch, Sofia Hirsch and Chase Hirsch; grandson-in-law Joe Shearer; and other relatives and friends. Rejoicing in heaven with her are her parents, Earl and Wanda (Woltz) Hall; both brothers, Rodney and Robert Hall; a grandchild, Brandy (Hirsch) Shearer; and many family and friends.
Roberta Hazel Hall Hirsch was born July 7, 1937 to Earl and Wanda (Woltz) Hall, in Jefferson, Iowa. Since Roberta’s father was a teacher and school administrator, Roberta attended several different schools, mostly in Iowa. Her mother was a homemaker and cared for Roberta, her older brother Rodney and her twin brother Robert. When Wanda was pregnant with the twins, she told the doctor that she thought she was going to have more than one. The doctor told her, “All women think they are going to have a litter.” Roberta graduated from Boyden with the Class of 1955. She moved to Grand Junction, Iowa to live with her Aunt Hazel (Woltz) Thompson. Roberta started working as a doctor’s assistant for brother/sister Dr.’s Jongeward office in Jefferson, Iowa. During Roberta’s first interaction with a patient needing a blood procedure, she was told to sit down as it appeared she was about to faint.
Roberta met the love of her life, Roger Hirsch, at a Valentine’s dance in Jefferson in 1956. They were married at Christ Lutheran Church, rural Churdan on September 23, 1956. They resided and farmed in the Paton area where she was a homemaker and cared for the family. In 1976, she was diagnosed with Addison’s disease and later started a support group in Iowa. She loved her Lord and was active in Church, Ladies’ Aid, and LWML where she served as registration coordinator for the 21st Biennial LWML Convention in Ames, in 1985. Roberta also held various offices for the LWML Iowa District West.
Since 1984, she and Roger spent a portion of the winter living in the south from Florida to Arizona. The past few years, they spent their winters in Port Aransas, Texas. Due to hurricane Harvey, they were in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, this season. One of Roger and Roberta’s favorite trips occurred in 1999, when they traveled through Canada to tour Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Colorado. Since first organized in 1991, she served as historian for the Hirsch Family Camp. Her hobbies were family genealogy, traveling, bird watching and cross stitch.
Roberta will be remembered for many vacations, her wonderful ham balls (that everyone fought over) at Thanksgiving/Christmas. card games, lots of laughter and the inclusiveness that anyone joining us always felt. Her pride and joy were serving the Lord, her husband, and family.
Palmer Funeral Home, 515-352-3121.