Roberta Ann Buchanan
d. June 19, 2010
Date Died: June 19, 2010
Roberta Ann Buchanan, 87, of Decatur passed away Saturday afternoon, June 19, 2010, with 11 members of her immediate family standing by her side.
Funeral: 10 a.m. Monday in the Coker-Hawkins Funeral Chapel in Decatur. Rick Ross, Robert Isham and Mike McDowell will conduct the service.
Pallbearers will be grandsons, Clif, Justin and Braden Buchanan, Tyler Rowe, and nephews, Jerry Gage and Floyd Miller. Honorary pallbearers are Carl Low, B.D. Lowe, Doyle Lowe, Ron Choate, Jimmy Cunnius and Tommy Cunnius. Roberta was born Feb. 23, 1923, in the Sycamore Community in eastern Wise County to Merlin Monroe and Buna Lee Griffeth Gage. The Gages were among the earliest settlers of the county that arrived here to purposely begin taming the west.
Roberta Gage married John Robert Buchanan Jr. on Oct. 21, 1945, in Fort Worth. She attended and graduated high school from in Slidell and then attended North Texas University. During World War II she worked at General Dynamics. After the war she and her husband, Bob, started dairy farming south of Decatur and continued to live and work on that farm until 2007.
Roberta was preceded in death by parents; husband of 54 years; brothers, J.G. and Ralph Gage; and sister, Merlyne Hunt.
Survivors: Roberta is survived by her children, Clifford Buchanan and wife, Cheryl, Calvin and wife, Virginia, and Marsha Purdie and husband, David, all of Decatur; grandchildren, Amy Buchanan, Clif Buchanan and his wife, Jana, all of Navasota, Lisa Laughlin and husband, Steve, Cheri Boyd and husband, Derrick, and Justin Buchanan, Rachel Adams and husband, Jody, all of Decatur, Rebecca Jones and husband, Jesse Lee, of Nashville, Tenn., and Braden Buchanan, Tyler and Mariah Rowe of Decatur; one great-grandson; six great-granddaughters and another one due any day now. Roberta is also survived by a sister, Lavada Griggs; five nephews; and three nieces.