Roberta Hunter Davis Chehardy, known to many as Bobbi, passed from this life on July 18, 2020, in Brandon, Mississippi. A service for family will be held Wednesday, July 22, at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel of Baldwin Lee Funeral Home.
Roberta was born on September 13, 1937, in Connersville, Indiana, to Ruth Elizabeth Hunter and Paul Erskine Davis. She graduated from Shelbyville High School and was proud to be from “basketball country.” In 1955, her father accepted a job in Oxford, Mississippi, where, during the summer before her freshman year of college, Bobbi met her soon-to-be husband, Billy Nicholas, and her life-long friend, Kaye Hooker Bryant. At the University of Mississippi, she was a member of the Alpha Mu chapter of Kappa Delta. In 1958, she and Billy Frank Nicholas were married at First Baptist Church of Oxford. She graduated from UM with a degree in business education.
Bobbi was a devoted daughter, mother, and grandmother. In her adult years, her parents followed her in all of her life changes and moves so that they could be near her, Lynda, and William. As her children were growing up, she was known for her enthusiastic support of their activities. As a grandmother, she never missed Megan’s band and chorus performances, Ryan’s basketball games, or Anne’s soccer games. Bobbi and her then-husband, Johnny, opened their home to a revolving door of friends and neighbors. She was a life-long fan of college basketball and Ole Miss football. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Jackson, Mississippi.
Along with her parents, Roberta was preceded in death by her husband, John Emile Chehardy, and her stepson, John Emile Chehardy, Jr.
She is survived by her daughter, Lynda Lee Nicholas Anderson and her husband, Jimmy R. Anderson; her son, William Paul Nicholas and his wife, Susan Anderson Nicholas; her granddaughter, Megan Anderson Dollahite and her husband Beau M. Dollahite; her grandson, William Ryan Nicholas and his wife, Sarah Davis Nicholas; her granddaughter, Anne Hunter Nicholas Cantrell and her husband, Mark Lee Cantrell, Jr.; great-granddaughter, Caroline Anne Cantrell; stepdaughters, Carolyn Chehardy Flynn and her husband, Jim Flynn, and Geraldine Chehardy; and four step-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Alzheimer’s Mississippi, 855 S. Pear Orchard Rd., Suite 501, Ridgeland, Mississippi 39157.
