Sheila Jo Barber Roberts
August 24, 1947 — July 2, 2026
Sheila Jo Barber Roberts of Buena Vista, Colorado, passed away peacefully at the Pikes Peak Hospice & Palliative Care on July 2, 2026, with her husband Frank at her side.
Sheila was born to Verland Thomas and Grace Aleen Barber in Trinidad, Colorado on August 24, 1947. She was a lifelong resident of Colorado, having lived in Trinidad until 1951, in Colorado Springs until 1981, and in Buena Vista, where she lived for 45 years.
She attended Colorado Springs grade schools, North Junior High and Wasson High School, graduating in 1965. In 1969 she married Frank Robert Roberts and they had a son, Kirk. In 1981 she moved to Buena Vista when her husband became employed by the Department of Corrections. She worked for many years for several law firms as a legal secretary. After she retired, she was proud of her work as an election judge.
Sheila had many interests and was proficient in everything she tried. She loved planting and maintaining a garden and always had a bumper crop of vegetables that she shared with everyone. Her sun room, deck, and surrounding yard were in full color every summer with flowers and succulents she had planted. She lovingly handmade gifts for friends and relatives for every holiday of the year, and her beautiful tapestries won awards at the local county fair.
Sheila and Frank loved to travel, taking cruises to Alaska and Hawaii, but their real love was seeing their beautiful state of Colorado, and they took regular rides over Cottonwood and Independence passes. She loved dipping her toes into the springtime river that forms in the Great Sand Dunes, hiking to the East Portal of the Alpine Tunnel, and taking the narrow-gauge train from Chama to Antonito when the aspens turned each fall. In later years they loved traveling in the desert southwest and visited her sister and husband in St. George, Utah, frequently.
Sheila had an incredible zest for life, a truly generous and giving heart, and a sense of humor that remained with her even as she was saying goodbye to all who loved her.
She will be missed by those who survive her: her husband Frank; son Kirk (Jodi) Roberts; sister Gayla (Kirt) Carpenter; nephew Earl J. (Nancy) York; cousin Barbara Lewis; and sisters-in-law Donna (Earl) York, Betty Sue Roberts, and Irene (Kenneth) Wilt. She was preceded in death by her brother Brian (Jane) Barber and her parents Verland and Aleen Barber.
A Catholic mass and funeral will be held at noon on July 11 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Salida. A celebration of life will follow in the fellowship hall. The family requests attendees wear bright colors as a tribute to her, as Sheila always wore bright colors and loved the flowers in her garden.
Donations can be made to Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care and the Pikes Peak Threshold Singers.