Bethel Alicia Roberts, of San Luis Obispo, California, passed away on August 10, 2022, at the age of 97. She was born Bethel Engle in Minneapolis, Minnesota on December 9, 1924, the middle child of five. She was the last surviving sibling.
She grew up amidst the Great Depression and her family moved often, settling in South Dakota, Oregon and California. She graduated from Coast Union High School in Cambria, California in 1943. After working for a couple of years, she enlisted in the U.S. Navy WAVES and was inducted on June 10, 1945 – an experience she always called one of the “greatest times of my life.” Some of her lifelong girlfriends were her Navy “buddies.”
After her military service, she went to work at the Harmony Valley Creamery (later Challenge, Golden State and Foremost Dairy) in San Luis Obispo. It was there that she met Ernest Roberts, and they were married on June 17, 1947. They moved into a newly-completed house and began a family in 1951.
Beth loved music and passed along her fondness for big bands, classical works and Broadway shows to her sons. She became a good cook and enjoyed serving some of her specialties to family and friends – her delicious potato salad, unbeatable lemon meringue pie and, on rare occasions, her mother-in-law Mollie’s fabulous homemade enchilada recipe.
She loved the holidays and would always bake up Christmas cookies and other delights (we still make her chocolate chip cookie brittle). There would always be barbeques with family and friends throughout the year, but Thanksgiving and Christmas (with a nod to Easter) were the BIG events.
In the later 1960s, when her boys were just about out of the house, and Ernie was temporarily out of work when Foremost closed, she went to work for Riley’s Department Store in downtown San Luis Obispo. She worked in the Women’s Ready-To-Wear Department for two decades and (easily) made many friends. After she retired, Beth and Ernie hit the road (and the sky) and travelled. They’d explored much of the American west, but then it was off to Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, much of Europe, the U.S. east coast, and Hawaii (multiple times). They had been married for 62 years, when Ernie passed away in December of 2009.
Beth was a fan of classic movies, which she loved to watch on TV – but she wasn’t stuck on one genre. She could enjoy “The Best Years of Our Lives,” then turn around and laugh to “Blazing Saddles.” More than anything, though, she was a true blue Dodger fan, and watched every game she could. In her later years, the Dodgers were a large part of her sustenance.
Beth is (almost) the last of her “family generation” – she is still survived by her sister-in-law, Jayma Engle. Many friends and family members will miss her. In her immediate family, she is survived by sons Larry (Lisa), Ron (Kathy) and Mark; and by grandsons Brian (Julie), Geoff, and Thomas. A service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 8, at Los Osos Valley Memorial Park.
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