- Date Of Birth: December 26, 1923
- Date Of Death: October 13, 2022
- State: Arizona
ROBERTA ELLEN KILPATRICK
Twins, Roberta Ellen and Robert Allan Hairsine, were born on a cold snowy Aberdeen, South Dakota day, December 26, 1923. Robert lived only 43 days. Roberta, who died October 13, 2022 in Scottsdale, AZ lived almost 99 years. She remained active, driving and socializing until three months prior to her death from cancer.
Roberta had many happy memories growing up on farms with her loving parents, Glen and Ethel Hairsine, 3 sisters, and a brother who have all previously deceased her. She lived in South Dakota until she was 11 years old when, in 1934, the Dust Bowl forced the family to lose their home and farm. They started over in southern Minnesota and established a successful farm that remains in Roberta’s family today. There, she and her siblings attended a one-room schoolhouse, sometimes getting there by horse and sleigh in the winter. After graduating from high school in Kasson, MN in 1940, Roberta graduated from the Minneapolis Business College in 1943 and went to work as a medical secretary for a Minneapolis general surgeon.
A young intern doctor who periodically worked at her office swept her off her feet (as she put it, she knew he was the right one because they loved to dance together). Roberta married William Robert John Kilpatrick, MD, on July 14, 1945. She returned to Kasson, MN while he served in Iceland in the Navy until World War II ended. They then moved to St. Louis, MO while William trained to become an ophthalmologist. The 1950’s found them in Huron, South Dakota with their three children. By 1971, they had moved to Arizona. Roberta worked in her husband’s Scottsdale ophthalmology office during the early 1970’s and continued to take shorthand dictation and type his correspondence through the 1980’s. They were married for 54 years when he died in 1999.
Roberta is survived by her two sons, William Robert Kilpatrick, MD (Kay) and Dennis Lee Kilpatrick, MD (Beth) both of Paradise Valley, and daughter Bonnie Kay Kilpatrick of Ft. Collins, CO. Roberta took great joy in her nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. One grandchild, Johnny Schou, predeceased Roberta.
Roberta and William had many friends from their travels all over the world. They loved dancing in the 1970’s and 1980’s at the resorts around Phoenix. Roberta was a wonderful pianist despite taking only 13 piano lessons before her family lost their home and piano during the Dust Bowl. She did crossword puzzles in ink every day throughout her life and wouldn’t miss an episode of Wheel of Fortune. She was a member of PEO, a charitable organization, for over 60 years. She was a wonderful cook and was known for her lemon bars and pretzels. From the time she was a small child, Roberta loved animals and had several memorable dogs over the years.
