Roberta Noble, 77, longtime Atlantic Beach resident

Village employee was known for being dedicated to her family

Posted

A dedicated mother, daughter, sister, animal lover and civil servant, Roberta Noble of Atlantic Beach died on Jan. 7. She was 77. Residents might have known her smiling face from her administrative duties at the village office, and her family knew her as a caring woman who repeatedly went above and beyond for those she loved.

At 55, Noble adopted her daughter Sarah. Sarah was born in Guatemala and came to the United States when she was a year and a half. Now 23, Sarah has been thinking back on all that her mother did for her, “She was an amazing mother,” she said. “So inspirational. She cared about others and didn’t want anyone to worry about her.”

Larry Noble, Roberta’s older brother, expressed similar sentiments about how much family meant to his little sister, whom he called “Bobby.” “She never missed any big family event,” he said. “… Sarah was her number one… and from what I saw at the funeral and the days before, Sarah returned that devotion. I was touched.”

Before Roberta adopted Sarah, she cared for her mother, Ruth, who battled Alzheimer’s disease for several years. In order to help illustrate his sister’s devotion to her parents he recalled her helping to sneak their father out of the house so he could attend Larry’s youngest son’s bar mitzvah in Virginia.

“When our mother was in the early stages [of the disease],” he said, “our mother would get very upset if our father was gone. He and ‘Bobby’ arranged a plan to leave for the weekend through a bedroom window. He was able to attend the ceremony and the party and mom [who was attended to by an aide] was never aware of his absence.”

Larry said his sister showed her caring side early in life. He said she always loved animals and even took to caring for the birds with broken wings she would find in her youth. Linda Baessler, an Atlantic Beach trustee, met Noble through her work with the village. Baessler met her when she first became a trustee nine years ago, Noble had already been working for the village for over 13 years at that point.

Baessler also helps to run Atlantic Beach Cats Inc., a volunteer organization that aims to reduce the village’s free-roaming cat population through a humane process of trapping, neutering and releasing the cats. She said that Noble was one of their biggest supporters. “She always had a smile on her face,” Baessler said. “She was always willing to help when you needed anything. The whole village is going to miss her.”

Noble’s other talents included dance as she studied with the legendary modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham. She also had her own company, Noble Carpet, designing and creating decorative oriental rugs.

The funeral was Jan. 9, at Gutterman’s in Rockville Centre. Noble was interred at Beth David Cemetery in Elmont.