August 10, 1943 – June 6, 2013

Madras, Oregon

Roberta ”Bobbi”’ Donaghu, devoted wife, foodie, gardener, recreational reader, serial cleaner and professional spoiler of grandchildren died on June 6, 2013.

Bobbi was born in Iowa City, Iowa on August 10, 1943 to Robert Lewis Howard and Edith (Handley) Howard who both preceded her in death. She shared her West Liberty, Iowa childhood with her parents and eight siblings. She was the second oldest sibling, and attended Our Lady of the Angels School. After her father’s early death, she began to share the full Howard household duties with her mother. It was then that Bobbi earned her apprenticeship in the finer points of home-front law and order, cooking for ten (casseroles anyone?), and cleaning up after younger siblings.

Bobbi married William ”Bill” Bruce Donaghu, her hometown sweetheart (at least by his account) on July 8, 1966. Bill was an Iowa State forestry graduate and was in the U.S. Army when the couple moved to Denver, Colorado in the summer of 1967, following the birth of their son, Michael. They pushed west again in 1969 to Warm Springs, Oregon, where Bill was hired as a forester by the Warm Springs Indian Tribe. Daughter, Melissa, was born in the summer of 1970 as the couple settled into a community life amongst many other friends and colleagues who were starting families and making Warm Springs their home.

Bobbi worked eight years as a reading specialist for Jefferson County Schools, as a Madras florist for five years, and helped run a family business for another three years. She was well known for her entertainment of friends with great food and constant conversation. Her optimistic life view was powerful enough to attract an inordinate number of deer, rabbits and squirrels to her yard where they wreaked endless havoc on her landscape creations. Friends will tell you that she was a fierce competitor at the card table and even her beloved grandchildren would not be spared from her skill of counting cards, nor her overpowering scrabble vocabulary.

In no particular order, she was highly suspicious of phonies, pompous know-it-alls, gossips, holier-than-thous, and anyone behaving unkindly. Her children and grandchildren, however, could do no wrong – even when they did. She held Paula Deen and The Barefoot Contessa at a level of hero status, and steadfastly supported Martha Stewart – even through her incarceration. Bobbi’s pies, cookies, cranberry fluff and potato salad could easily compete with the likes of her culinary heroes. Her secret power was laundering money away from her husband to be used on gifts or treats for her grandchildren – always at the expense of her own needs. She loved family and holidays in the way that her favorite artist, P. Buckley Moss, loves to paint the rural life. Her home was constantly filled with the smell of great food and her grandmotherly pockets were always filled with jelly beans. She was an uncomplicated woman who always insisted that family and friends make time for a home cooked meal around her table set with love. In one crazy last act of family devotion, she died on the birthday of her mother, Edith. They are whipping up a new casserole together now.

Bobbi was preceded in death by her parents and brother, James Howard. She is survived by husband, Bill; children, Melissa Donaghu (Portland, OR) and Michael Donaghu (Portland, OR); sisters, Mary Edith ”Edie” Heitzman (Hills, IA) and Theresa Lukavsky (Columbus Jct, IA); brothers, Eugene ”Butch” Howard (Iowa City, IA), Edward Howard (Monteno, IL), Bill Howard (Coralville, IA), Bob Howard (Mountain Home, ID) and Tom Howard (Iowa City, IA). She is also survived by the true lights of her life, grandchildren, Piper Donaghu (17), Ella Donaghu (15), Ruby Donaghu (11), and Collin Ryne Marshall (9).

A memorial service will be held Monday, June 17th, 11:00 a.m. at Mt. Jefferson Memorial Park Cemetery in Madras, Oregon. Remembrances may be made to the American Diabetes Association.