Roberta A. Wilkinson

Roberta Anne Earle Wilkinson, Sept. 14, 1937 – Dec. 21, 2020.

She was 4-feet, 10-inches of pure spitfire with enough empathy to rival all the great women of this world. One of the greats. Joyful to the core. Our Mom. The one we learned everything about humans from and how to root in integrity and compassion.

She treated everyone she met with a level of gratitude and calmness that could diffuse even the most heated of hatred, injustice and conflict. A woman of the highest integrity, only matched by her drive and power of true grit.

She was kindhearted, wicked smart and would wrap everyone she knew in love. If you are reading this and knew her, you have a special place in your heart for her, too. She was devoted. To family, to her friends, to her faith, but mostly to us, her children and our father, Jack.

She died of COVID-19 Dec. 21, 2020. Sweet, ferocious, little Mom. We are devastated. She fought a valiant fight with the disease and was bound and determined to get home to her husband of 58 years and her kids and grandkids that would take a bullet for the woman. She was exemplary. COVID won. So unfair.

She was born in Rumford Maine, moved to Providence, R.I., and attended East Providence High. Daughter to Willard and Beatrice Earle, she excelled at most things, but her love of singing at a young age led her to be active in Grace Church’s church choir. Her singing was the soundtrack of our lives. Always singing something, especially to cheer up her friends and family with jingles and a little dance. Her finger shooters were unrivaled.

She went to the University of Rhode Island and studied home economics. Mom was active in her sorority, Alpha Xi Delta, was on the sailing club and was the treasurer of the Friday Afternoon Club that met at the seaside each Friday for cocktails. She loved a great party.

She met John Wilkinson Jr. in the fall of 1962 at a dance in Providence, R.I., and the rest is history. They were engaged two weeks later with the ring in Dad’s bathtub at the time and

they were married on Dec. 28, 1962, at Grace Church Providence, R.I.

There were several places she called home. Maine, Rhode Island, Upstate New York, Kansas, Nebraska and finally, Fountain Hills, Ariz. Her first love was the ocean and all that it entails. She grew up on the water and was a lifeguard, growing up on the shores of Providence and watched the America's Cup yearly from her favorite perch on Castle Hill’s lawn with her friends and family.

She was a woman of tradition and held family and roots as the pillar of her world. Her roots date back to her/our great grandfather, George Soule, who traveled and landed in Plymouth Rock, Mass. A very proud Mayflower descendent, she devoted herself to preserving history and served in many capacities as an officer of the Arizona Mayflower Association for the better part of 30 years and a devoted member of the Rhode Island chapter since the early 1950s, serving as historian, treasurer and also membership chairman. She was a member of several organizations from Rainbow Girls, Eastern Star, a founding member of Fountain Hills Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and was a staple in Fountain Hills as a volunteer. She retired from Scottsdale Community College as the fearless leader of the math/science tutoring center after 20 years, and then in retirement filled her days running around town spreading happiness wherever her feet landed. Mom gave her everything. Most importantly, she gave pieces of her heart to anyone who needed her. She was just a force and her love of people fueled that.

We, as a family, were given the biggest miracle of being able to be with her in the last hours of her life, when the world and hospitals were shut down due to COVID-19. For this we are grateful.

She is survived by her beloved husband, Jack, her four children, Jared Wilkinson (Carrie), Faith Mitcham (Justin), Jeff Wilkinson (Stephanie) and Sidney Miller (Rick); and her six grandchildren, Nicolas, Emily, Annie, Georgia, Lauren and Archer. She is preceded in death by her father and mother, Willard and Beatrice Earle of Providence, R.I., and her sister, Sally Alameda of Nashua, N.H.

The family invites you to her Celebration of Life April 23, 2022, at 1 p.m. at Shepard of the Hills Lutheran Church with a reception to follow at Euro Pizza Cafe at the Fountain immediately after her service.