Rosena June Hobbs

June 2, 1921 - August 17, 2014

Obituary Rosena June Riley Hobbs June 2, 1921 – August 17, 2014 Rosena was born on June 2, 1921 in Terre Haute, Indiana to George and Lula Riley, one of seven children. She grew up in Vincennes, Indiana during the depression years and the family moved to the Roseland area in Chicago when she was in high school. As a young working woman, she met and married Kenneth Hobbs. They had 3 children – Kathleen, Deborah, and Draa. In the early 1950s Ken and Rosena ventured into a Tupperware distributorship, successfully balancing business, pleasure, and family. They managed a comfortable living while enjoying many travels with their children and business friends. In 1983, they retired to their summer vacation home in Ball Club, Minnesota and then moved to Sun City West, Arizona ten years later. Following Kenneth’s death in 2007, Rosena moved to Corvallis, Oregon to live near her daughter Deborah, granddaughters, and great-grandchildren. Here, after many health challenges, she passed away peacefully the morning of August 17, 2014. Rosena’s warm, enthusiastic, and unfailingly optimistic personality made everyone she met feel special and uplifted, as if they could be empowered to do anything they wanted. Along with her kind husband, she instilled a sense of independence, determination, and courage in all her children and grandchildren. For this, Rosena was a role model – facing her own difficulties with grace and resilience that only increased as she aged. The depth of her spiritual strength was evident from childhood and she cultivated and nurtured it all her life. She found the Bahá’í Faith through her daughter Deborah and embraced the inspiration of the teachings. Late in life, she became a Bahá’í, becoming the fourth generation in her family to do so. She will be greatly missed by her many friends and family members all over the country. Rosena’s body was lovingly laid to rest on Wednesday, August 20 at Oak Lawn Memorial Park in Corvallis. Funeral services were managed by DeMoss-Durdan Funeral Home. Condolence messages can be left on their website.