Roberta Lois McCallum, 90, entered heaven on March 7 from Lyons, Kansas.
Born March 16, 1926, Troy, N.Y., to Robert and Helen (Boyd) Gunsalus (deceased), she graduated from Allentown Bible Institute (PA) in 1945, and later from Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
She married Charles McCallum on August 18, 1945, in Carlisle, N.Y. For 71 years of marriage, they agreed in prayer for great things. Charles, age 93, survives Roberta at Sterling Presbyterian Manor.
From marriage in 1945 and retirement in 2003, Roberta followed Charles to find her call within his at the Reformed Methodist Mission, Roseau, Dominica, British WI; First Wesleyan Church, Schenectady, NY, Ticonderoga Wesleyan Church, NY; Forest Dale Wesleyan Church, VT; Heuvelton Wesleyan Church, NY; Niskayuna Wesleyan Church, Schenectady, NY, First Wesleyan Church, Bartlesville, OK, Wesleyan Evangelical Seminary, Brakpan, South Africa, Sooner Park Wesleyan Church Bartlesville, OK; and First Church of the Nazarene, Hutchinson, KS.
Roberta worked in finance offices in business, churches, and for Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Though a bookkeeper, Roberta is best known for the five children she raised for God: Charles (Chuck) of Marion, IN, and wife Joy McIntyre (deceased) and wife Cindy Cramer (living); Darlene Edwards of Sterling, KS, and husband Bill Edwards; Wesley of Millsboro, DE, and wife Patti; Suzanne Sprung of Walsh, CO, and husband Bryan Sprung, and Philip of Seattle, WA, and wife Leslie. She had 11 grandchildren: Dawn Edwards, Teresa Batman, Chad McCallum, William Edwards, Donna Edwards Shah, Nathaniel McCallum, Rachel Chahanovich, Michelle Fletcher, Matthew Sprung, Laurel LeBlanc, and Levi McCallum and 27 great-great grandchildren.
She is survived by her sisters, Shirley Boel and Doris Gunsalus of High Point, NC; Audrey Holmes, Mississauga, Canada; and brother, Donald Gunsalus, Brunswick, OH. Brothers Robert and Paul Gunsalus preceded her in death.
In response to a whisper from God, she surrendered her life to Jesus Christ at age 14. She is honored by her children for her life of prayer. She devoted one day per week to pray for each child and their families. She wrote to all 60 family members weekly until her death. She was resolved to live free from anxiety or bitterness. Her heart burned to see her family in heaven.
Viewing is Friday, March 10, 2 p.m.- 9 p.m., at Hutchinson Funeral Chapel in Hutchinson, KS. A Memorial Service Saturday, March 11, at 1:30 p.m., at the funeral home will follow a private burial at Memorial Park Cemetery.
