Studebaker

Robert Wilson Studebaker, 83, of Slippery Rock, Worth Township, died at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday at his home.

Born in Worth Township, April 25, 1926, he was the son of Wilbur Earl Studebaker and Caroline Mayberry Studebaker.

He married Mary Elizabeth Ritenour on Oct. 18, 1947.

He was a U.S. Army veteran, and he retired after 42 years at Cooper Bessemer, later called Cooper Energy, in Grove City.

He was a member of the West Liberty United Methodist Church. He was a member of the NRA.

He loved being outdoors; fishing; hunting; doing freehand artwork, including portrait painting; and working in his workshop building birdfeeders, swings, wood burning and other projects.

Surviving are his wife, Mary E. Studebaker of Slippery Rock; two sons, Dennis R. and his wife, Louise, of Greenville and Darwin W. and his wife, Barbara, of Grove City; and a daughter, Charmaine E. Hempfling of Knoxville, Tenn. Also surviving are 15 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his stepmother, Elizabeth "Dib" Aiken Studebaker; a sister, Erla Studebaker Matthews Rohmann; and a grandson, Mike Kelly.

<B>STUDEBAKER </B>— Visitation for Robert Wilson Studebaker, who died Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2009, will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at the <B>Smith Funeral Home, </B>421 New Castle St., Slippery Rock. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home with the Rev. James Lewis, pastor of the West Liberty United Methodist Church, officiating. Interment will be in the South Plain Grove Cemetery.