Roberta Smith

Early Years

Roberta Ann (Martin) Smith, fondly known to family and friends as ‘Bobbi,’ was born in Buffalo, New York in 1943, and, as the story goes, in the middle of a blackout during WWII.

Shortly thereafter (1946), the family moved from Buffalo to Grand Junction, CO as the result of Bobbi’s dad pursuing a career with Union Carbide. It wasn’t until after a subsequent and extended stay in New York that the family would finally settle down in Grand Junction again, permanently this time. Doc and Fern, Bobbi’s parents, would stay in Grand Junction for the remainder of their lives.

Bobbi attended Grand Junction High School, and enjoyed her experience as a Tigerette cheerleader. Rumor has it that she may have also volunteered as a candy striper at St. Mary’s Hospital during her high school years. Candy stripers assisted nursing staff in their administrative duties.

Marriages

After graduating from high school in 1961, her heart was soon captured by her first husband, a gentleman in the TV and radio business who ultimately moved his young bride to Montana. It was there that Lisa, the eldest of Bobbi’s three children, was born. Shortly thereafter, when the family had once again returned to Grand Junction, her second child, Gary (also known as Jay) was born.

Unfortunately, the marriage was short-lived and Bobbi found herself a single Mom with two young children to support. Wasting no time in picking herself up, she soon became a capable apartment complex manager. The building was situated directly across from Lincoln Park and offered the added benefit as a space for her children to run and play. Lisa and Jay remember this time as a particularly happy moment in their lives, enjoying several warm friendships Mom had developed with the tenants living there, playing in the park, and enjoying the Shriner’s circus, county rodeos, and fireworks displays from their apartment’s front window as such events came through town.

While working as a dispatcher at the local sheriff’s department, Bobbi met her second husband. Once married, the family moved into a comfortable three-bedroom home on 28 Road and would stay there for many years to come. The youngest child of the three siblings, Michael, was eventually born. All three kids would attend school locally, ultimately graduating, then going on to pursue their own careers and forming their own families.

When her second marriage ended, Bobbi built herself a comfortable house in 1996 off Patterson Road that she was proud to call her own, enjoying the remainder of her life in a peaceful and quiet neighborhood where family visited often.

Career and Pastimes

Bobbi’s working career spanned many decades, the bulk of those years spent applying her skills as a dedicated clerk in numerous title companies. Bobbi enjoyed the work and the friendships she developed with coworkers and would often comment after retirement that she wished she had been able to keep working longer.

Some of Bobbi’s favorite pastimes included travel, enjoying family gatherings and vacations, and taking care of her little doggie, Joey. She traveled the country from coast-to-coast, spending lots of time in both California and Florida, where relatives had taken up residence over the years.

Throughout her life, and even during the most recent times when her health began to fail, Bobbi’s closest and truest companions were her sisters, Gretchen and Korwyn, both of whom she loved and adored. In sickness and in health, the sibling bond was strong and unshakeable. Up until her very last moments, the care, attention, and devotion of her generous sisters was a family tie that simply grew ever stronger through the trials and tribulations that a long-lived life can bring.

The girls sometimes cut loose in Mesquite, Nevada, and Bobbi was known to happily part ways with her hard-earned money during their joyous gambling excursions.

A few other hobbies, interests, passions and traditions included:

• Caring for her sweet little chihuahua, Joey, her companion of twelve years, and also known as Joseph when he was in big-time trouble for peeing on Mommy’s carpet.
• Putting together jigsaw puzzles.
• Vacationing to Florida to visit her son, Jay, and his daughter, Sophie, or expectant of their next visit to Junction to visit Grandma.
• Riding along with her daughter, Lisa, and son-in-law, Dave, while he performed engineering jobs throughout the Grand Valley and beyond.
• Always reminding people how proud she was that her youngest son, Mike, was a police officer.
• Attending hockey practice and games for her grandson, Max, and listening attentively as his brother, Jack, explained how the universe really works.
• Attending JUCO baseball games and watching the Broncos on TV.
• Enjoying breakfast and coffee with Lisa and David after Sunday church service. It was her duty to remind chef Dave that she’d better not find any vegetables in the scrambled eggs he normally prepared.
• Taking advantage of every opportunity to spend a few moments outside in the sunshine, whether from her chair on the back patio at home, or from her wheelchair at The Fountains.

A would-be-adventurer, Bobbi was always threatening to engage in questionable behavior, such as jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, galloping a horse down a sandy beach, or purchasing a motorcycle and taking a road trip down to Thunder Beach in Florida. The kids just chuckled, albeit somewhat nervously, knowing there truly was a little bit of wild tomboy lurking inside, itching to come back out and play, as it did in her childhood.

But the biggest and happiest adventure Bobbi could have ever imagined was to have her great-grandson born on the same day as her own birthday, and separated only by a mere 77 years in time. Her granddaughter, Brianna, having recently moved to Grand Junction, herself, was always hopeful that Grandma Bobbi would be able to see her sweet great grandson Vaughn before it was her time to go. Thankfully, the wish came true, and this happy occasion was recently captured on video - which we will share with you shortly - Grandma and Grandson celebrating their birthdays together over cake and ice cream, with many family members enjoying the festivities.

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Final Thoughts

Bobbi’s health waned rather quickly in her final months, and she spent her last days at The Fountains assisted living facility, no longer able to care for herself in the home she loved so much. All things considered, she was happy until the very end. When her son, Jay, recently asked her during a phone conversation how she was doing, she simply replied, “Well, you know the answer to that, Hon…I’m wonderful.” And indeed, she WAS wonderful, in every sense. Independent, strong-willed, even frustratingly stubborn at times, yes, but also a tender and loving soul in every way that counts. In all their years of communication, whether a two-sentence text message, or an hours long conversation about life’s challenges, her kids always knew that Bobbi was there for them, her love, hugs, and encouragement ever at the ready. In this regard, not once did their Mom falter.

Bobbi passed away on November 11, 2021 in her room at The Fountains. She was happy and talkative until just moments before. She did not suffer, and her family was by her side until the very end.

Bobbi was preceded in death by her parents, Doc and Fern Martin, and her granddaughter, Elizabeth Michelle.

She is survived by siblings Tod Martin, Gretchen Weaver, Korwyn (and spouse) Ken Fuller, and Jack (and spouse) Cynthia Martin, as well as her three children, Lisa (and spouse) David Chase, Gary (and spouse) Nipaporn Tan Gunter, and Michael (and spouse) Catherine Smith.

She proudly claimed six grandchildren: Jonathan, Elizabeth, Brianna, Sophie, Max and Jack, and briefly got to know the latest rockstar in town, Mr. Vaughn Ellis.

We now offer you the video previously mentioned, as well as a brief presentation of Bobbi’s life in pictures, spanning more than three quarters of a century.

On behalf of Bobbi’s family, we thank all of you for coming to celebrate and honor the memory of this amazing woman, the sister, the mom, the grandmother - dearly loved by all, and already deeply missed. Bobbi, we will always love you, and the world will be a lonelier place without you. We will carry you always in our hearts. May God bless you and keep you, and may you now eternally rest in peace.