Loretta Loraine Roberson

Loretta Loraine Roberson, “Nanny” - passed away peacefully on Wednesday, January 19TH , 2022 at the age of 83. She was a 2nd-generation American, born on November 11TH, 1938, in Fresno California, to 1st-generation, “Volga-German” parents, Fredrick and Kathrine Scheibel. She was their only child.

She attended her local elementary school until the 8th Grade and spent many hours dancing to and swooning over American Bandstand.

On Christmas Eve 1949, 11-year-old Loretta met her future husband, Johnny H. Roberson, while attending the wedding of her cousin, Bernice, who married Johnny’s brother, Robbie. According to Loretta’s first-hand account, it was “Love at first sight.” They spent the next 5 years as boyfriend and girlfriend and fell even harder for each other. Loretta loved when Johnny would pick her up from school and told many stories of them as young teenagers in love.

Loretta & Johnny eventually married on Valentine’s Day in 1955 and moved to the Los Angeles area where Johnny became a Meat Department Manager of an Alpha Beta store.

Loretta & Johnny became parents to their first-born son, Steven, later that year in July. They welcomed their second son, Briant, in June 1958. Loretta, a young bride and mother of two boys, grew very homesick and realized that she needed a lot of help raising her family. Loretta and Johnny moved back to the Fresno area where her parents and loved ones could give her family the love and support they needed.

A few years passed and the boys started school in Madera where Loretta & Johnny bought 10 acres of raw land and built their home. They created a wonderful place to raise their two boys. Soon, the 10 acres became a small cattle ranch, with barns, corrals and 5 acres set aside to raise alfalfa. Loretta became involved with PTA, cub scouts, and 4H, where she helped her oldest son, Steve, raise and show black angus steers. Loretta and Johnny invited their niece, Kathi, to their ranch every summer while she and the boys were growing up. The three kids grew extremely close and have many fond memories to share of their parents and home on Road 33.

Loretta began her career in the 60s. First, she ironed clothes for extra money and eventually got a position as an eyeglass technician through a friend. In the 70s, they moved to Shaver Springs, above Tollhouse. Johnny managed the meat department for the Fresno-based, Foodland market chain. The owner of Foodland built a burger-joint in front of the store, on the corner of First and Barstow and called it Fred’s. This allowed Loretta to become a cook at Fred’s and commute with Johnny to work daily. In the 80s, Loretta & Johnny decided that they wanted something different. They sold their mountain home and returned to the valley. Johnny retired from the meat business and obtained his real estate license. Together, they began buying lots in subdivisions, building homes, and selling them.

Loretta & Johnny‘s real estate success allowed them to purchase a small convenience store located at Interstate 5 and Panoche Road. Loretta stayed very busy at the checkstand, cooking pizza and BBQ-chicken, stocking shelves and completing all the other chores that made a convenience store function. Loretta & Johnny poured their heart and soul into that store and loved every minute of it. Years later the store was sold and Loretta retired to her home on Calimyrna Avenue, with husband Johnny and son Briant.

In the years since their retirement, Steve gave them two beautiful grandchildren, Rachel and Miranda, who they enjoyed swimming and going on walks with. They eventually grew bored with retirement and decided to take a position working for family friends at Bear Creek Gifts and Cabin Decor, where they loyally served the Old Town Clovis community for several years before fully retiring. Loretta loved Elvis Presley, talking on the phone with her family and friends, “putzen” (the German word for cleaning), shopping, attending her weekly beauty shop appointments, watching Mollie B Polka Party every Saturday, and crying along to primetime Worship Concerts with her husband, Johnny.

“GOD saw that she was suffering, and a cure was not to be.

So, he put his arms around her and whispered come with me.

A gold heart stopped beating, hard working hands put to rest.

GOD truly had to prove to us he only takes the best.”

Loretta is survived by her loving sons Briant; Steven and his wife Cheryl; her granddaughters, Rachel and Miranda; her beloved niece, Kathi and her husband, Bob; as well as countless cousins, nieces, nephews, neighbors and friends. Loretta is preceded in death by her husband, Johnny; her parents, Fredrick and Kathrine; and many other family members that awaited her arrival in heaven.

A graveside service for Loretta will be held Friday, February 18, 2022 from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM at Belmont Memorial Park, 201 N Teilman Ave, Fresno, CA 93706.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.whitehurstsullivan.com for the ROBERSON family.