Barbara "Barb" Roberts

Barbara “Barb” Gale (Woolm) Roberts, age 72, of Yankton, South Dakota died on Sunday, January 21, 2018, at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton following her courageous battle with cancer. Memorial services are 10:30 AM, on Saturday, January 27, 2018, at the Wintz & Ray Funeral Home in Yankton with Jerry Webber officiating. Burial will take place at a later date. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the memorial service on Saturday. Barb was born August 8, 1945, in Yankton, South Dakota to James and Gladys (Hocking) Woolm. She graduated from Yankton High School in 1963 and Yankton College in 1968 with a B.A. majoring in speech and drama and minoring in English and secondary education.  She was very involved with theatre and related arts.  Barb married Rick R. Riker and had one daughter, Stephanie.  The marriage proved to be premature for both and they divorced in 1968. In 1991, she married Paul F. Roberts. They divorced in 2017.  Barb taught school in Wakonda, SD and Isle, MN from 1968-1970. Becoming disenchanted with the teaching profession, she worked for the State of Iowa as a rehabilitation counselor at Fort Dodge, IA from 1970-1972.  At that time, she moved to Eagle Lake, MN and began work on a master’s degree at Mankato State University in vocational rehabilitation counseling which led to a position as counselor with the State of Minnesota, Services for the Blind in 1974. In 1991, she transferred to the Division of Rehabilitation working with chemically dependent clients at the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center. She had since retired and returned to live in Yankton. Barb served as a past president of the Eagle Lake American Legion Auxiliary, Second District American Legion Auxiliary President 1989, Poppy Chairman and State Historian and Chaplain for the Department of Minnesota, ALA.  She was a member of the VFW Auxiliary, Order of Eastern Star, the Waseca Area Genealogy Society, the Minnesota Historical Society, the National Genealogy Society, and the New England Historical Society.  Barb was an avid genealogist, having spent many hours researching the Woolm family history, including grave hunting throughout the United States and England. She was proud of her Cornish heritage, and passed on her knowledge of Cornish customs and love of pasties. She loved dogs, and she loved bargain hunting at thrift stores, always able to find and take home some gems. And she never met a story she could not tell. Barb is survived by her daughter, Stephanie (Buddy) Waters of Yankton, SD; her brother, Robert (Joan) Woolm of Charles City, IA; several nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews, as well as her sweet and faithful dog, Honey Bun. She was preceded in death by her parents, James and Gladys (Hocking) Woolm. The family would prefer memorials to the Heartland Humane Society, 3400 E. Hwy 50, Yankton, SD  57078. To send an online message to the family, please visit www.wintzrayfuneralhome.com.