Roberta Irene Gill

Roberta Irene Gill, 92, was born in Fargo, Oklahoma and passed away at the Catholic Care Center in Wichita, Kansas on September 9, 2024. She was born June 17, 1932, in her grandmother’s house to Roe and Melissa Cline. She married Ralph Gill on June 6, 1953, in Springer, New Mexico. Roberta and Ralph had two children, Ralph Edward, Jr. and Karen Sue.

When Roberta was born in her grandmother’s house, her cousin Harold was born on the other side about 30 hours earlier. Roberta was raised in Gage, Oklahoma and went through the Gage school system. There was no kindergarten, but she attended 1st through 12th grade and graduated from Gage High School in 1950. She was described in her senior yearbook, “Bert always excelled in sports and always put the ball in the bucket (in basketball).”

Roberta was the oldest of 6 children: Louise, Lila Mae (only lived 9 days), Roe Byron Jr. “R.B.”, Raymond, and Kenneth. Being the oldest child, she helped her father on the farm. She milked six cows every morning before school; she also plowed in the fields, scooped wheat, and helped with the cattle and horses. She also helped can vegetables from their family’s huge garden. Her mother insisted that she learn how to cook and do housework so that she would be able to take care of her household on her own.

She was very close to her siblings and cousins and attended every family reunion until Covid put an end to their gatherings. At those gatherings, Roberta always provided her special Chocolate Sheet Cake and Bologna Salad Sandwich spread. Roberta was an excellent cook!

After graduating from high school, Roberta moved to Oklahoma City and attended Draughon School of Business and obtained a Certificate for Junior Business Administration in 1953. During that time, she also lived with a family and served as their children’s nanny. While attending Draughon’s, she would ride the bus from Oklahoma City to Woodward to return home to visit her parents and siblings. On those trips she met and took a liking to the bus driver, Ralph. After graduating from business school and before she got engaged, she and a friend took a trip to visit her friend’s parents in Niagara Falls, New York. They drove the whole way in a beat-up car with worn out tires and windshield wipers that didn’t work. They made it and had a great time! This began Roberta’s love for traveling.

Roberta and Ralph got engaged in February of 1953 and married that June. After marriage, Roberta was a full-time homemaker. Ralph was a bus driver for Mid-Continent Coaches and his route was from Oklahoma City to Garden City, Kansas, returning the next day. He also drove tours for Sunflower Excursions, and after the children were grown, she would go on the tours with him. She and Ralph collected handkerchiefs from 49 of 50 states and her mother made her a queen size quilt using the handkerchiefs. She visited almost every state, but her favorite places to visit were Canada and Hawaii.

In March of 1954, Ralph Jr. was born. He was the apple of his parent’s eyes. They took him fishing, water-skiing, camping, attended every baseball game, and wrestling matches. Ralph remembers all the time that Roberta would play horse with the neighborhood kids on their driveway. Roberta almost always won, but when it was one-on-one, due to her bad knee, that was the only way they could beat her. Roberta was always like the 2nd “Mom” to all of Ralph’s friends and the neighborhood kids. The Gill’s lawn was usually where everyone hung out and ate homemade ice cream and watermelon.

On January 23, 1960, the Gill’s brought Karen Sue into this world. Just like her mother, Roberta taught Karen how to cook and clean the house. Karen’s favorite memories of her Momma include her always making her favorite birthday meal that included fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and her birthday pumpkin pie with candles. Roberta made all family gatherings special—for her kids, siblings, and parents. The Gill house was the smallest, but most of the family gatherings were held at their house on 41st street. The kids ate in the garage on a big piece of plywood on two sawhorses. The adults would eat in the house at the kitchen table and a couple of card tables. Thanksgiving and Christmas meals always included great food and desserts that Roberta, Grandma, and often R.B. would make.

In 1975, Roberta, Ralph and Karen moved to Garden City, Kansas to help run Sunflower Excursions. Roberta was a natural tour director. They continued traveling all over the United States until Ralph’s health began to fail. They moved back to Oklahoma City in May 1978. When Ralph went to live in a Retirement Community, due to Parkinson’s disease, Roberta started working at Target to keep busy. She was a loyal employee for 13 years and retired in 1999. Roberta had been Ralph’s caregiver until he passed away in October of 1991.

After his passing, she helped care for her father and mother at the Baptist Retirement Village. After both of her parents passed, Roe in 1999, and Melissa in 2002, she was a caregiver for her best friend, Lois. After Lois passed, Roberta continued to live on 41st until she moved to the Baptist Retirement Community for a short period. She moved to Wichita in 2015 to be closer to Karen. She lived independently at Sedgwick Plaza until Covid and then she moved into the Catholic Care Center, where she lived until she passed.

Roberta had lots of friends and was beloved by all her nieces and nephews. Her favorite hobbies included cooking and baking, sports, playing games, especially Bingo! She won lots and was considered very lucky! She loved her OU Sooners and Oklahoma Thunder. She also loved the Olympics! She used to watch them every year with Ralph Jr. and Karen. This last Summer Olympics, she watched almost every event and would stay up late at night to watch them. She loved gymnastics, swimming, track and field, and especially men’s and women’s basketball.

Roberta had a dry sense of humor; when Karen would leave to go after a visit, she would tell her Mom to be good, and Roberta would say, “No way, I couldn’t have any fun if I did that.” Roberta loved many and was loved by everyone she met—family, friends, neighbors, her children’s friends, teachers, and caregivers at Catholic Care Center. The Catholic Care Center staff and Good Shepherd Hospice were so special to Roberta and her family during her final days.

Roberta is survived by her son Ralph Jr. and daughter Karen Gelvin (Mark), sister Louise Simpson, Sister-in-Law (Debra Ansivino (Tim), and brothers Raymond Cline and Kenneth Cline (Jan); grandchildren, Dirk Kessler, Scotty Germann (Alaina) and Kirsten Gill; and one great grandson Parker Donovan and her many nephews and nieces. She is also survived by her special grand-dogs Rocky, Gunner, Betty, Veronica, and Archy, who visited her at the Catholic Care Center almost every day. All of these she loved and touched deeply.

She was preceded in death by her parents Roe and Melissa Cline; husband Ralph; sister Lila Mae Cline; and brother R.B. Cline.

A visitation will be held at Bill Merritt Funeral Service 6201 Northwest 39th Expressway, Bethany, Oklahoma on Friday, September 13th from 4-8 p.m.

The funeral service will be held in the Bill Merritt Funeral Service Chapel at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 14th with interment to follow at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Catholic Care Center, 6700 E. 45th St. North, Wichita, KS 67226.