Hillsdale Co. woman was on school board
10/10/2005HILLSDALE - Birdell F. Roberts, a former North Adams school board and library board member and office manager of the former Gray/White Chevrolet in Hillsdale, died Thursday at her home northeast of Hillsdale. She was 95.
Mrs. Roberts' health had declined in the last year, her son, David, said. He did not know the cause of death.
Mrs. Roberts was born on a farm in Cambria Township just south of Hillsdale, the youngest of five children. She graduated from Horton High in 1927 and was employed in several jobs before she married Gerald Roberts, a farmer, in 1935.
About that time, she took a job at the Chevrolet dealership as a bookkeeper and office manager. She retired in the 1970s after 37 years there.
"She was a very intelligent woman," her son said of her abilities to organize business records.
For years, she was on the school and library boards in North Adams, northeast of Hillsdale.
Mrs. Roberts was a lifelong member of St. Anthony Catholic Church in Hillsdale and belonged to several bridge clubs.
Her husband died in 1986.
Surviving are her sons, Thomas and David; daughters, Chloe Ann Smith, Carol Ann Lefere, Kathleen Jabour, and C. Suzy Roberts; 17 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren.
The funeral is at 10 this morning in St. Anthony Catholic Church. Kurtz Funeral Home, Hillsdale, is handling arrangements. The family suggests tributes to Hospice of Hillsdale County or the North Adams Library Book Fund.