Harold D. Roberson

Harold Dean Roberson, age 81, passed away on Wednesday, June 8th, 2022. He was born in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas, on November 18th, 1940, to Otis and Allie (Mitchell) Roberson. He moved to the Rockford area in 1961 and lived in Machesney Park for the past fifty years. He was a hard-working member of the Laborer’s Union Local 32 for his entire commercial construction career.

He was married to Jean (Hastings) for more than 24 years. He is survived by his ex-wife and good friend - Jean Dunn, sister Nora Hager, his children - Lori Hinueber, Lana (Scott) Harker and Ryan Roberson; grandchildren – Alli (Drew) Mains, Jessi (Devin) Woods, Annie (Taylor) Smith and Joe Hinueber, his buddy, helper and chief gardener; great grandsons – Cameron Smith and Henry Woods; grand pets, Nettie, Obi, Arthur and Maisel. He had many close nieces, nephews and friends.

A note from his kids: “Our dad lost his mother at a very young age, spent his younger years struggling during the Great Depression Era and came out of it with a strong desire to save everything he had. He traveled with his aunt and uncle picking crops across the Midwest. He became the 1958 Traverse City, MI, Cherry Picking Champion, picking 1,225 lbs of cherries in 12 hours, a record that still stands. He was a great pool player (8 ball and 9 ball) and won the Illinois State Tournament and many local and regional competitions. In his 60’s, he traveled many times to Las Vegas to play in national pool tournaments and usually won a little on the slot machines.

He also enjoyed his kids and their families, poker and sports, especially college basketball. He always had a big garden where we learned how to plant, weed and harvest many vegetables and strawberries. He took great pride in providing the green tomatoes for our annual family fried green tomato fest and enough ripe tomatoes for friends and neighbors.

Our dad taught us that hard work paid off. We learned how to do everything around the house, yard, garden and garage. And why we may not have loved every minute of it, we sure learned to appreciate, later in life, all that we learned. My dad rarely called on anyone to repair anything and figured things out on his own.

No one laughed harder at the Three Stooges, ate more rhubarb pie, played more poker and pool or talked about his “Daddy” more that our dad. He will be missed by all who loved him.

He was pre-deceased by his parents, sisters – Juanita, Evelyn and brother – Richard, and their spouses, son-in-law, Dean Hinueber and grandchildren - quadruplets, John, Jennifer, Michael and Charles Hinueber.

A Celebration of Dad’s life will be held on Sunday, June 12, 2022, from 2 pm to 5 pm, at the Roscoe VFW, 11385 2nd Street, Roscoe, Illinois 61073. Fitzgerald Funeral Home and Crematory (Lori’s employer) assisted the family with all of the arrangements. Please share memories and condolences online at www.fitzgeraldfh.com.