Paula ‘Pat’ Roebuck, died at Westminster-Canterbury Hospice on Monday, March 28, 2016, surrounded by her family.
Pat was born August 16, 1930, in Memphis, Tenn. Her parents were Boyd E. Alford and Virginia Davis-Alford. She spent her earliest years in Memphis, but moved with her family to Florida, where she graduated from Duncan U. Fletcher High in Jacksonville Beach.
Pat worked for the telephone company for a year and saved enough to attend Jones Business College. From there, she was employed at Barnett National Bank as a private secretary. While employed, she met and later married U.S. Navy Ensign James W. Roebuck on June 30, 1951.
In 1956, they decided to adopt. When U.S. Navy Lt. Roebuck deployed to the Mediterranean, Pat gathered together the adoption papers and took ship to meet Jim in Athens. From there, they traveled to Stuttgart, Germany, where they found an adoptable six-week-old boy, Paul. His leave expiring, Jim returned to the 6th Fleet, leaving Pat to care for the infant, get a German passport for him, then an immigration quota. Accomplishing all this, she single-handedly transported the child by TWA to Jacksonville, Fla. Five years later, they adopted an adorable, smart little six-month-old through Norfolk Child and Family Services. She, Laurie Jennings, now resides in Virginia Beach, along with her daughter, Caitlin, who attends Regent University.
With her children grown, Pat plunged into volunteer work. She was founding president of the Virginia Beach Pops Orchestra and a freelance reporter for the Virginian-Pilot for a time.
Her husband, Jim, resides at Westminster-Canterbury.
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