Roberta Ward

August 21, 2021

Roberta Mae Ward - August 22, 1936 - February 11, 2021

We celebrate the life of a person that was a very important part of our lives, Roberta Ward. While her family grieves her loss, they are choosing to remember Roberta in a way that honors her spirit.  She is adored and loved by all that met her. Love never dies we are connected at the heart.  Death may end a life here on earth but it doesn’t end a relationship because Roberta will forever live on in our hearts.
We give thanks for the life of a woman we are honored to call Mom, Grandma, sister, wife, friend and even Auntie Granny. Nothing on Earth can make up for the loss of someone that loved you and Roberta loved all her family and friends with all her heart.
She loved her sons; Randy, Ricky, Rodney, Robbie and Henry, they were her life. Not only was she a mom to all her sons, she was a mom to anyone that needed her. To her family she was a loving and caring woman who loved them with all her heart.
She loved her grandchildren and great-grandchildren dearly. She was always thinking of things she could pass down to them. It could be a knickknack with special meaning to her, a picture, or a book. She loved holding on to family heirlooms from previous generations to pass on to the next generation of family members.
She loved her husband, Roley Ward, Sr., and loved all his family as her own. Henry said she was a great wife to his dad and wonderful mom to him. In 1975 she moved to Southwest New Mexico to live close to her brothers. She married Roley Ward, Sr. shortly thereafter and Los Lunas was where she called home for many years.
Roberta had a wonderful sense of humor that endured her to everyone she encountered and is a great testament to her nature that she formed so many long-lasting friendships over her lifetime. She was an advisor, a confidant. Her greatest quality was to encourage people to make the best of everything and to face their problems head on. She was a survivor and beat throat cancer twice, she was tough.
Roberta was interested in many things and enjoyed her crafting and reading. She enjoyed ceramic making, molding, baking and painting them. We all have a craft she gave us as a gift. The mattress spring Christmas trees and many other things. Everyone knows the true love of her life was John Wayne with her collection of many John Wayne items though out her home.
She would copy inspirational quotes and messages to pass out to people at church or anyone she felt needed it. She was known as Dr. Roberta, taking care of her nieces and nephew from bugs in their ears to pulling out a long hair on a shaved head. She always had a remedy for whatever ailed you. She loved being a member of the Red Hat Society and really enjoyed her fellowship with the ladies.  When we say she loved to read we mean she loved to read as many as a sack full of books a month. She was an avid reader. 
Roberta worked at the Department of Motor Vehicle for most of her career, just retiring last year. She was an example of work ethic.
She didn’t deserve to die the way she did, but she would want us to know she is okay and happy. We thank Roberta for the way she brightened our lives and promise to keep her in our hearts always. She will be missed but her memory will live in us forever. There are special people that never leave us even after they are gone. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.
Helping others was her life mission. She never turned anyone away, be it family, friends or a stranger.  That is a powerful legacy to leave behind. The legacy of love and love is stronger than death. That is why we can remember Roberta as the compassionate, vibrant person she was who always went out of her way to help others.
Roberta had a strong relationship with her Lord and Savior. Death was not the end for her. She wasn’t frightened of death because she knew God’s promises to her, a promise of a heavenly home. For those that follow Godly paths will rest in peace when they die.
It is said that grief is the price we pay for love.  God is our comfort during this time and the Lord is close to the broken hearted, he rescues us when our spirits are crushed. Roberta would want us to know to turn to the Lord for comfort, don’t be sad and go have some fun for her life celebration and remember the good things.
From her brother Darrell:
My mind still talks to you, my heart still looks for you, but my soul knows you are at peace.