Roberta L. Stuemke

Roberta L. Stuemke, 71, of Oshkosh, formerly of Merrill, passed away Saturday, February 3, 2024, at the Waterford at Colby, Colby, WI.

Roberta was born May 11, 1952, in Merrill, daughter of George and Florence (Thanholdt) Stuemke. She attended Merrill Senior High School, graduating in 1970. She then attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. She graduated in 1974 with a B.S. in English. Roberta served with VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) in Hill City, Kansas from 1975 until 1976. In 1976, she accepted a position at the Polk Library at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, as head of stacks management. In 2006, Roberta was presented with the Star Award from the UW-Oshkosh in recognition of performance above and beyond the expectations of her position. She continued working at the Polk Library until her retirement in December of 2011. During her employment, she also supervised student employees who always spoke fondly of Roberta regarding her teaching of shelving and finding missing books. Patrons of the library would comment that Roberta always had a smile on her face when greeting them.

Roberta was an avid reader, with a special love of science fiction that began after seeing the first Star Wars movie. Another special interest was writing science fiction and fantasy stories, with several being published by magazines of the same interest.

For many years, she lived with her good friend Judy Nord, head of the Halsey Research Center of the UW-O. Judy and Roberta enjoyed going to Sci-Fi conventions around the United States.

But her real love was for her cats. She always had at least one cat which she would adopt from the animal shelter in Oshkosh. She would typically look for cats there were least likely to be adopted such as the senior kitties or cats that had health issues.

Roberta is survived by her sisters, Kathryn Grons of Spring Grove, IL, Karen Rubom of Erie, CO, and Georgia (Randy) Gengler of Medford, WI; one brother, Edward (Sandy) Stuemke of Revenna, MI; and seven nephews and two nieces. Roberta was preceded in death by her parents, George and Florence Stuemke; brothers, Alan Stuemke and Dana Stuemke and three infant brothers; and brothers-in-law, Jerome Rubom and Donald Grons.

Interment will be in Merrill Memorial Park Cemetery. There will be no funeral or memorial service at this time. A family celebration of life will be held at a later date.

Roberta’s wishes were that any memorial donations be made to Oshkosh Area Humane Society – 1925 Shelter Ct., Oshkosh, WI 54901.

Taylor-Stine Funeral Home & Cremation Services, Merrill, is assisting with arrangements. Online condolences may be made at www.taylorstinefuneralhome.com