JULIAN, N.C. – Roberta Joan McKay Kyker of Julian, N.C., went home to be with the Lord on Friday, July 20, 2012.

She was born Aug. 17, 1935, in Polo. Roberta grew up with the dream of serving people in their time of need, and fulfilled that dream in a career of nursing which spanned a half-century. She graduated from the Swedish Hospital Nursing School as a registered nurse. She married Dennis Kyker of Jonesboro, Tenn., on Sept. 8, 1956. They moved to Tennessee, where she began her passionate work of caring for the sick. Later, the Kykers moved to North Carolina and settled in Greensboro, where Roberta continued her love for nursing as an operating room nurse at Moses Cone and High Point Regional Hospitals. She was known to help neighbors, friends, and anyone in need with her skills of compassionate care. After retiring from the operating room, her last phase of 52 years of nursing was in geriatric care, working in several long-term care facilities in the Triad area.

Survivors include her husband of 56 years, Dennis Kyker; children, Carl (Cindy) Kyker of Woodstock, Ga., Charles (Julie) Kyker of Hickory, N.C., Cindy (Carl) Johnson of Greensboro, Jacob Kyker of Hayesville, N.C., Cathy Wood of Julian and Clay (Cheri) Kyker of Pleasant Garden, N.C.; 12 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a sister, Shelby Jean (Richard) Hose of Polo.