RITA ANN ROBERTS
Feb. 16, 1944 – Oct. 31, 2022
This is the story of my mom…
Everyone who met Rita remembered her. She was not the kind of woman who went unnoticed. I’ve witnessed my mom’s beauty stop people in their tracks on more than one occasion, men women, and children! In the 70s and 80s she and her sister Rona had a hair salon in Birmingham, and it seemed half the city sat their chairs at some time or another. My best memories are when it was in the clubhouse of a large apartment complex in the heart of the most popular area in Birmingham.
After encountering a few frogs, she met her Prince Charming and the love of her life, Don Roberts, on April 7, 1987. He was on a business trip from Chicago, went for a drink with a sales manager, saw my mom, and they have been inseparable since that day.
She was a life-long Crimson Tide fan and could talk football with the best of them. She was also an excellent cook, a wonderful seamstress, and a great decorator before her health prevented her from doing some of the things she loved. That still didn’t stop her from the decorating though. As recent as a month ago she had her husband and grandsons moving furniture around to give everything a new look. (You’re right Mom, of course, it all looks great!)
Up until the last couple years she thoroughly loved spending a month at the beach in September. She loved staying on a high floor so she could have a great view of the beach, and she loved sitting on the balcony listening to waves. She loved it most when family would come down and spend a week with them…playing board games, video games, poke, having a large fish fry, and just hanging out together.
Her grandchildren have always had a special connection with her. She was always the fun, silly, or outrageous Grandmother. They have many happy and historical memories with her. These are just a few:
~ Grandmother and Jessica were watching Arachnophobia, and every time a spider appeared on the TV they jumped up and ran around the dining room table screaming. Jessica said it took about 3 or 4 hours to watch the entire movie!
~ She was always trying to think of a plan to make us all rich so we could buy houses at the beach and all move down there together. Emily’s favorite was when she called a family meeting to discuss the development of a new board game. She was convinced as many games as we played surely we could put our heads together and come up with something good enough to make us millions! She gave us all jobs and Emily’s was to take notes so we could stay organized. Needless to say, we didn’t develop a board game and become millionaires. Emily also loved it when Grandmother dyed her grey hair back to her original black and it turned purple instead. Pretty funny considering her years as a hair stylist! Emily, Jessica, and Grandmother also shared a love of Nancy Drew computer games and have played them all.
~ Joshua’s funny memory is when he, Grandmother, and Gonny (Don), spent the night at Aunt Rona’s house. They were sleeping on a large air mattress. In the middle of the night the seam on the mattress popped and it instantly turned into a giant ball, throwing them onto the floor. They were all laying on the floor, giggling and trying not to wake up Aunt Rona and Uncle Roy. Joshua also loved all the family beach trips staying at The Phoenix, the trip to Washington DC, and the hours on end playing Nintendo games with her. Joshua had many long political conversations with her, and she was happy to have at least one like-minded grandchild!
~ Zachary is the grandchild whose views on the world and politics differed the most from hers, and yet she still loved having those conversations with him. They agreed on very little in that realm, but she still sought his opinion. She also constantly told him how “beautiful” he is and that he needs to go to Hollywood. His funniest memory is the last time she tried to pick out clothes as a gift for him….pink Bermuda shorts and a yellow striped hoodie. It was graciously accepted and promptly returned.
~ Benjamin has the distinction of being born on her birthday. She was thrilled to share her birthday with her youngest grandchild, whom she always called brilliant because she was naturally the most like her! She was always eager to come to Knoxville so they could celebrate their birthdays together. She also enjoyed political discussions with Benjamin. Zachary and Benjamin did not share her political opinions, but theirs was the only opposing views she was interested in listening to.
At one time or another she has declared to each grandchild how beautiful, talented, special, gifted, etc. they are and how much their talent needs to be shared with the world…and she was not the least bit biased!
The one consistent memory from all of us is that she pretty much set all of us off on a lifelong path of video game addiction, beginning with Mario and The Legend of Zelda.
Rita leaves behind many heartbroken loved ones, including her husband Don Roberts, of Dora, AL, her daughter and son-in-law Julie and Patrick Pardee, of Knoxville, TN, her bonus son, Steven Roberts, of Tampa, FL, her bonus daughter, Brittney Roberts, of Houston, TX, her brother Donnie Smith, of Empire, AL. She leaves six grandchildren, whom she adored: Jessica Etchepare of Hoover, AL, Emily Lovato (Stephen) of Maryville, TN, Joshua Webb, of Homewood, AL, Zachary Isbell, of Knoxville, TN, Jacob Webb of Hoover, AL, and Benjamin Isbell of Knoxville, TN. She also leaves seven great-grandchildren: Joseph, Sara, Caleb, Noah, Valerie, Ivy, and Hawthorn.
Alongside our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, awaiting her arrival were her parents Dan and Christine Smith, her first-born child Barry Webb, her two beautiful sisters Ricki Patton and Rona Pound, her beloved brother-in-law Roy Pounds, and her sweet great-grandson Damian Cloud Lovato.
She left this world on Halloween, her last act of drama, and our world feels like so much less now. But we take great comfort in knowing she is no longer in pain, and she is now with our Savior awaiting our arrival one day.
