1931-2021

La Grande

Roberta Lee Truax, 90, of La Grande, died Dec. 21, 2021, at her home. Arrangements are by Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center, La Grande.

Roberta was born Oct. 29, 1931, in Hopkins, Missouri, to Robert Tibbetts and Leona (Freemyer) Tibbetts. The family later moved to Oregon and lived in both the Pendleton and La Grande areas. It was in Pendleton where Roberta met her future husband, Maurice Russell Truax. They were married on June 12, 1948.

Roberta worked in the mid-1940s as a telephone switchboard operator. In 1954, she and Maurice moved to Hopkins, Missouri, to partner with Roberta’s uncle, J. L. Nicholson, in running the family farm. Roberta helped with the farm chores, raised three children, tended a massive garden and taught Sunday school and Vacation Bible School.

In the late fall of 1964 Roberta and Maurice left the farm and moved back to Pendleton. She worked as a sales clerk for J.C. Penny in Pendleton and then at the J.C. Penney in La Grande when they moved. Roberta and Maurice built and operated their own business, Valley Radiator Service, in La Grande. She ran the office for the shop and did all the bookkeeping, ordering and errand running.

Roberta was an avid fisherman and loved crocheting, playing pinochle and family get- togethers. She also enjoyed running the county fair booth for the local Republican Party and assisting with the precinct polling places during elections.

After Maurice passed away in 2008, Roberta started rotating residences with her children, spending the winter months in Arizona with Doug, spring/summer in Idaho with Rod, and late summer/fall in Texas with Sharon. When Doug and Debbie returned to La Grande, Roberta moved with them. She loved being back where she could watch the deer wander through the neighborhood and see the beautiful mountainside from her window.

Survivors include her children, Rodney Truax of Nampa, Idaho, Sharon Hardin of Pasco, Washington, and Douglas Truax of La Grande; seven grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her siblings, Lowell Tibbetts, Denzil Tibbetts and Phyllis King.