Roberta Elene Elder

Graveside Services for Roberta Elder, 88, Arapaho resident, will be held 10:00 AM Saturday, April 22, 2023, in the Arapaho Cemetery officiated by Rev. Charles Murphy and under the direction of the Kiesau-Lee Funeral Home.

Roberta Elene (Schimmels)Elder passed away on April 17, 2023, in Owosso, Oklahoma, she was born August 2, 1934, near Arapaho, Oklahoma to Claude Sherman and Ina Ruth (Smith) Schimmels. She attended Womble, a one-room country school, then Arapaho High School, graduating in 1952.

On June 5, 1954, she married John Lee Elder. They made their home in Arapaho, Oklahoma with their four children.

Roberta was a long-time elementary school teacher in Arapaho after teaching two years at Clinton Sherman Air Force Base. She loved her students and worked hard to provide enrichment in her classes, especially in science. After retirement she traveled with her husband and often with additional family members. She loved her family and loved spending time with them. For over twenty years their home was the site of the Elder/Schimmels family picnics with 40-60 in attendance.

Roberta is survived by her husband, John Lee Elder; her children, Peggy (Geoffrey) Alexander, Kathy (Fred) Laurents, Doyle (Jo Lynn) Elder, Lee Elder; her sister Sandra (Ron) Johnson, sister-in-law, Lois Schimmels; five granddaughters and their families, including seven great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents Claude and Ina Schimmels, and brothers Vernon Schimmels, and Clifford Schimmels, as well as several sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews.

The family has suggested those wanting to give a memorial contribution may do so to the Arapaho-Butler Public School Library Fund or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital