Roberta E. Hubacker

Roberta Hubacker 1919-2016 Roberta Hubacker of Fort Gratiot, MI died on April 29, 2016 at the Blue Water Hospice Home in Marysville, MI. She was 97 years old. The daughter of Ellwood and Clara Eastman, Roberta was born in Kingston, MI on April 24, 1919, the oldest of three children. She graduated in 1935 from Kingston High School with the honor of Class Valedictorian. In 1937, she married Kenneth Hubacker of Cheboygan MI and moved to Cheboygan where she lived, worked, and raised her family until she moved to Port Huron in 2007 to be near Julie Burge, her youngest daughter. Later she moved into the Burge’s home in Fort Gratiot. Roberta worked at a hospital in Detroit before she was married, and then took a job in the office of the new Cheboygan Community Memorial Hospital in 1942. She worked there until 1944 when she left the hospital to become a full-time homemaker. She returned to work in 1964 at the Sportswear shop in Cheboygan that she and her husband purchased. She continued to work in that store until they sold it in 1991. She was a long-time member of and very active in St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Cheboygan, then transferred her membership to the Marysville United Methodist Church when she moved to Port Huron. Roberta loved entertaining her grandchildren, flower gardening, and doing volunteer work for her church. In the kitchen she was a superb baker, especially loved making Christmas cookies, and freezing or canning fruits and vegetables. She was an avid reader and forever interested in furthering her education – she enrolled in a Junior College as an adult to take classes, and learned to use a computer at the age of 80. She and Ken worked crossword puzzles together and there were always a few source books lying near the dining room table. She loved to travel and learn about new places with numerous trips to Florida, Mexico, Texas, Canada, and the East and West Coast. In her eighties she was still eager to see new places and traveled to the UK and France in 1999, a highlight of her journeys, and again to the UK in 2003 for her granddaughter’s wedding, and in 2008 to see a new great-granddaughter. She was, like her own mother, an avid letter writer, sending a letter at least once a month to all of her children when they moved away from home, often including newspaper clippings she thought would interest them. She became interested in genealogy, and spent many hours researching the ancestors of her family, and since this was before the advent of the Internet, corresponding by mail with sources around the country and in Europe. She made a point of trying to attend every child’s and every grandchild’s major events such as graduations, weddings, and recognition ceremonies. Roberta enjoyed life and was always willing to try new things even into her seventies and eighties. Her enthusiasm and joy were contagious. Her family was all-important, but she had a wide variety of other interests including plays and community events. She was pre-deceased by her husband, who died in 2003, her brothers Dr. Jeness Eastman and Norwood Eastman, and her son-in-law John Osborne. She is survived by her five children: Gretchen Osborne of St. Augustine, FL, Nicholas Hubacker (wife Maxine) of Pittsfield, MA, Christine VanderWall (husband Jack) of Mears, MI, Fred Hubacker (wife Margie) of Bloomfield Hills, MI, and Juliana Burge (husband Chuck) of Fort Gratiot, MI. She is also survived by ten grandchildren (Carrie Heiss, John Osborne, Richard Hubacker, Neil Hubacker, Peter Soet, Johanna Buzolits, Christopher VanderWall, Fred Hubacker Jr., Andrew Hubacker, and Christopher Burge.) as well as 16 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her special friends Maggie DeKoyer-Watson and Nic Spicer. A Memorial service for Roberta will be held Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at 11:00am at the Marysville United Methodist Church, 1234 New Jersey Avenue, Marysville, MI 48040. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Blue Water Hospice Home, 2795 Edison, Marysville, MI 48040. Arrangements by Jowett Funeral Home, 1634 Lapeer Avenue, Port Huron, at 17th street, Port Huron. To view obituary and share memories please visit www.jowettfuneraldirectors.com

Roberta E. Hubacker

April 24, 1919 - April 29, 2016