Beverly Mae Barnickel Roberts, age 95, of Huntsville, AL, peacefully entered the presence of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Thursday, March 30, 2023. She was born in Wisconsin on February 9, 1928, to Frank and Arvilla (Adank) Barnickel. The family moved to Theodore, AL near Mobile when she was a young girl. Beverly was the eldest of an eventual four children who spent many happy weekends on the beaches of nearby Dauphin Island. In 1946 when she graduated from Theodore High School, she was voted the Harvest Queen.
Before she was married, Beverly worked for 18 years at the railroad in Mobile and she talked fondly of this time for the rest of her life. It especially gave her an opportunity to travel with her dear sister, Phyllis, and her other girlfriends to such places as Miami and New York City. Numerous family members still live in Theodore and Beverly and family visited yearly for wonderful holidays and summer vacations down south.
She married her husband, Vernon Albert Roberts, on June 23, 1961. Their courtship began when Beverly, surprised by a frog in her car, ran into her brother’s store, where Vernon was a customer, for assistance. After rescuing her from the frog, it became a special symbol of their marriage.
Beverly, Vernon, and their young children, Alan and Sharon, moved to Huntsville in 1966 when he got a job at the Army Missile Command on Redstone Arsenal. They were long-time members of University Baptist Church, where Beverly taught the two-year-olds’ Sunday School class for years and years. Beverly dearly loved her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well as her nieces and nephews and their kids.
She also loved her Lord and Savior and spent much time in her later years reading her bible and writing in her prayer journal. She will be remembered for always saying goodbye on the phone with “Lots of love, have a good night and a better tomorrow”, and now she will always have a “better tomorrow”. She will be deeply missed by her family and friends.
Beverly is preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Arvilla Barnickel, husband, Vernon Roberts, and her brothers, Jack Barnickel and Frank “Junior” Barnickel.
She is survived by her sister, Phyllis (Eddie) Bolton; son, Alan (Marcella) Roberts; daughter, Sharon (Scott) Dublin; grandchildren Jeremy (Olga Pastukh) Smith, Philip Smith, Andy Smith, Christie (Chris) Thomas, Erica (Travis) Stinnett, Chelsea (Matt) Henske, Alan Roberts, and Christopher Roberts; great-grandchildren Audrey Stinnett, Nora Kate Thomas, Emma Thomas, Raylan Smith, Kalea Smith, Alisa Pastukh, and Jackson Henske; many nieces and nephews; and her beloved chihuahua, Taco.
A visitation will be held at 1:00 pm on Monday, April 3 at Hampton Cove Funeral Home followed by a funeral service at 2:00 pm.
