In Memory Of
Julia Roberts Vodicka
1937
2024
Julia Roberts Vodicka
August 5, 1937 — January 8, 2024
Julia Schwab Roberts Vodicka, 86, passed away on Monday, January 8, 2024 in Topeka, Kansas.
Julia, called "Judy" by her family, was born August 5, 1937 in Commerce, MO, and raised in Dawson Springs and Princeton, KY, the eldest child of Julian Leo Schwab and his wife Beatrice Alexander. Her father was a businessman of Dawson Springs, Princeton, and Fredonia KY, and a farmer of Scott County, MO.
She was a graduate of Butler High School in Princeton; Brescia University (B.A. history and music) in Owensboro, KY; and University of Kentucky (M.A. anthropology) in Lexington, KY.
Her first husband was the late Dr. Richard A. Roberts, a professor at University of Colorado in Boulder, CO. Their son is John Mark Roberts, R.N., B.S, whose specialties have included hospice and geriatric nursing and most recently psychiatric nursing. Her second husband was the late Thomas Hagglund Vodicka P.E., a mechanical engineer with Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, VA, and later with the Department of Commerce Maritime Administration in Washington, DC.
Julia was employed as museum director at Hampton University in Hampton, VA; museum director at the W. H. Over State Museum in Vermillion, SD; and in the archives of Urbana Free Library in Urbana, IL. She taught courses at Hampton University; the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD; the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana; and Parkland College in Champaign, IL. She spent many years as a volunteer librarian at the LDS Family History Center in Champaign, IL, where she was able to assist people in doing family history research in eight languages.
Her interests were travel, music, ballet, theater, genealogy, geology, and baseball.
She is survived by her son John Mark Roberts and his fiancée and beloved friend Patricia Ingersoll of Topeka, KS and Patricia's sister Theresa Downs of Topeka, and was deeply grateful for their companionship and loving care; her sister Dr. Mary Beatrice Schwab Walker and husband Dr. John Scott Walker of Urbana, IL; sister in law Sarah Newlander Sanders of Germantown, TN; two grandchildren Julia Roberts Downing and James Julian Roberts both of Topeka, KS; a great-grandchildren Abigail May Downing, Nate Downing, Zoey Roberts of Topeka, and Zach Roberts all of Topeka ; and two nieces Catherine Schwab Weber and Joanne Schwab Thiel both of Houston, TX.
She was preceded in death by her brother Capt. James Alexander Schwab USN Ret.
There will be no service. Final arrangements will be handled by Parker-Price Funeral Home in Topeka and Morgan's Funeral Home in Princeton. The remains will be interred in the Schwab family lot in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Princeton, KY. It is requested that any memorial donations be made to the Disabled American Veterans (by mail DAV Memorial Program, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301; or online www.day.org
To leave a message for her family online, please visit the guestbook below.
Julia, called "Judy" by her family, was born August 5, 1937 in Commerce, MO, and raised in Dawson Springs and Princeton, KY, the eldest child of Julian Leo Schwab and his wife Beatrice Alexander. Her father was a businessman of Dawson Springs, Princeton, and Fredonia KY, and a farmer of Scott County, MO.
She was a graduate of Butler High School in Princeton; Brescia University (B.A. history and music) in Owensboro, KY; and University of Kentucky (M.A. anthropology) in Lexington, KY.
Her first husband was the late Dr. Richard A. Roberts, a professor at University of Colorado in Boulder, CO. Their son is John Mark Roberts, R.N., B.S, whose specialties have included hospice and geriatric nursing and most recently psychiatric nursing. Her second husband was the late Thomas Hagglund Vodicka P.E., a mechanical engineer with Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, VA, and later with the Department of Commerce Maritime Administration in Washington, DC.
Julia was employed as museum director at Hampton University in Hampton, VA; museum director at the W. H. Over State Museum in Vermillion, SD; and in the archives of Urbana Free Library in Urbana, IL. She taught courses at Hampton University; the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD; the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana; and Parkland College in Champaign, IL. She spent many years as a volunteer librarian at the LDS Family History Center in Champaign, IL, where she was able to assist people in doing family history research in eight languages.
Her interests were travel, music, ballet, theater, genealogy, geology, and baseball.
She is survived by her son John Mark Roberts and his fiancée and beloved friend Patricia Ingersoll of Topeka, KS and Patricia's sister Theresa Downs of Topeka, and was deeply grateful for their companionship and loving care; her sister Dr. Mary Beatrice Schwab Walker and husband Dr. John Scott Walker of Urbana, IL; sister in law Sarah Newlander Sanders of Germantown, TN; two grandchildren Julia Roberts Downing and James Julian Roberts both of Topeka, KS; a great-grandchildren Abigail May Downing, Nate Downing, Zoey Roberts of Topeka, and Zach Roberts all of Topeka ; and two nieces Catherine Schwab Weber and Joanne Schwab Thiel both of Houston, TX.
She was preceded in death by her brother Capt. James Alexander Schwab USN Ret.
There will be no service. Final arrangements will be handled by Parker-Price Funeral Home in Topeka and Morgan's Funeral Home in Princeton. The remains will be interred in the Schwab family lot in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Princeton, KY. It is requested that any memorial donations be made to the Disabled American Veterans (by mail DAV Memorial Program, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301; or online www.day.org
To leave a message for her family online, please visit the guestbook below.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Julia Roberts Vodicka, please visit our flower store.
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