Roberta Lee Cox

Roberta Lee Cox was born October 14, 1934, in Cloud Chief, Oklahoma, to Robert Lee and Addie Belle (Morris) Colbert. She was the youngest of four girls born to the couple. When Roberta was very young, the family relocated to California where she attended school. Her family would occasionally take trips back to Oklahoma for visits. She would frequently share memories of these visits, and especially stories of her kind and gentle Chickasaw Grandmother Colbert. Roberta loved her very much and was proud of her Native American heritage. Roberta married Stephen Alfred Cox on June 15, 1957, and they moved to Scio, Oregon, where they raised seven children together on the family farm. Roberta took pride in raising her children with strong morals and manners, and cared well for her family and the farm they all loved. She was an incredibly hard worker and planted a vast selection of food in her garden which she canned and preserved for the family. When her children had grown and left home, She and Steve moved to Albany into a farm house that had been in the family for generations. It was there that she found a love for home restoration. She spent many years making it just the way she wanted it, calling it her “labor of love”. Roberta also enjoyed the outdoors and wildlife of all kinds. She planted and tended a little forest of pines and oaks to bring in deer, squirrels, skunks and a wide variety of birds. She spent many hours working in and enjoying her enchanted forest. She also enjoyed spending time around the kitchen table with friends and family playing card games and telling stories. She was a tough competitor and more often than not caught the card she needed. She loved rockhounding wherever she went. Roberta spent hours collecting ones that she was sure had, “been around for a million years and had stories to tell, if only we could hear them”. After visits from her Grandkids and Great-grands, she’d send them home with pockets full of them. As her health began to fail, Roberta’s family was able to care for her in her home, setting aside everything to care for the woman that had always cared for all of them. On July 22, 2021, Roberta passed away peacefully in Albany, Oregon at Samaritan Evergreen Hospice House. She was preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Addie; her son Matthew Emerson Cox; sister Caroline Sugura; and her brother-in-law Perry Johnston. Roberta will be profoundly missed by those she leaves behind including her husband of 64 years, Stephen; children Stephen (Kathy) Cox, Cindy (Donald) Gesner, Wilson (Diana) Cox, Kathleen (Jim) Jantz, Stephanie (Kevin) Page, and Rachel Porter; siblings Katherine (Barney) Cox, Olita Johnston; 22 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.