Rebecca Lucille Robbins, 74

SALT LAKE CITY, UT-Rebecca Lucille Robbins, age 74, passed away on February 7, 2023, at the University of Utah hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was born on August 12, 1948 in Ottumwa, Iowa to Ethel M. Wright and Frances A. Bender. She was the youngest of 6 siblings and grew up in the farming community of Keswick, Iowa. Rebecca graduated as Salutatorian from the Tri-County High School, where she played basketball and edited the school paper. She also won the school's English award, early recognition of her lifelong love of reading.

She loved learning and education. After high school, she went to the University of Iowa, where she graduated in 1970 with a B.A in Political Science and a Certification in Secondary Education. Her career in teaching would have to wait though – she was off to have adventures in Los Angeles. She received a second degree while in L.A., graduating with a B.S in Business Administration, Accounting in 1978 from California State University, Long Beach.

She married in 1979 and in 1981, her first child, Catherine was born. Catherine was soon followed by a baby boy, Christopher in 1983. The family moved from LA to Utah in 1984. She was also a stepmother to her husband's other children, Evan, Seth, and Gwen. She was a devoted mother, attending every soccer and baseball game. Her children fondly remember her teaching them basketball, which both played in middle school and Christopher in high school. She was an avid crafter, sewing Halloween costumes, quilts, and cross-stitching masterpieces. She was devoted to her family in Iowa, returning each summer to the family homestead for a reunion with her parents, siblings, and many nephews and nieces.

Once her children got a bit older, Rebecca returned to school, this time for a Masters Degree in Special Education in 1996. She loved helping children and she taught special education at Emerson Elementary and Backman Elementary until her retirement.

After retirement, she found an amazing community within her condominium and loved her time spent there with neighbors. Peggy, her next-door neighbor, and Rebecca were great friends. They would be over to each other's places all the time and even their cats were best friends. She continued to travel with her sisters and during the pandemic they played bridge on Zoom weekly. She loved word games and crossword puzzles, reading, and politics.

Rebecca is survived by her two children, Christopher Robbins and Catherine Mesgar, and four of her six siblings, Joan Burke, Janice Bender, Elizabeth Bender and Bob Bender. She was preceded in death by her parents, Ethel and Francis Bender and her brother Gene Bender.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 12,  at Powell Funeral Home in Sigourney.  Burial will be at a later date in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Sigourney.  Powell Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Sigourney is caring for Rebecca and her family.  Tributes may be made at www.powellfuneralhomes.com.