Roberta L. Sutherland-Saddler, 71, passed away due to natural causes at Providence Holy Family Hospital in Spokane, WA, on Saturday, November 16, 2024.  Wake services will begin at 3:00 p.m. with a Rosary at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 21, 2024, at St. Mary's Catholic Church.  Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, November 22, 2024, also at St. Mary's Catholic Church.  Burial will follow in the New Rocky Boy Cemetery.  Holland & Bonine Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.

Roberta was born on November 11, 1953, in Fort Belknap to Albert and Emma (Gardipee) Sutherland.  She was raised in Rocky Boy, attending school there.  After high school, Roberta attended job corps in California, majoring in heavy equipment operations.  She returned to Rocky Boy, where she attended Stone Child College, and graduated with an associate's degree in education.  For most of her working life, Roberta was a caregiver.

Roberta was a selectively social, strong-willed woman who was a devout Christian, praying for her whole family three times a day.  She enjoyed meeting new people and absolutely adored her family and friends; and she was greatly loved in return by all around her.  She liked to sew, bead, work Sudoku puzzles, play video games, watch old Westerns, and listen to gospel and old R & B music.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Albert and Emma Sutherland; and siblings, Roger and Albert "Sonny" Saddler and Ethel "Vonnie" Ford.

Roberta is survived by her children, Johnnie Witherspoon, Jr., and Nathaniel (Deborah) Witherspoon, Sr., all of Spokane, WA; grandchildren, Isaiah, Sadarah, Salina, Joseph, Samirah, Johnnie Witherspoon, III, Maleiah, Israel, Imari, and Nathaniel Witherspoon, Jr.; brother, Sigmund Sutherland; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and other extended family and friends.