Page created by: Amy Whittall

Roella Tinsley Hobbs, age 80, of Alpharetta, Georgia, formerly of Cohasset Massachusetts, passed away after an extended battle with Parkinson’s Disease on Sunday, February 28, 2021. Mrs. Hobbs was born in Old Greenwich, CT and moved to Orchard Park, NY, in high school. She married John Hobbs and had two daughters. She overcame challenges including divorce, raising children with Juvenile (Type 1) Diabetes and putting them both through college.

Her career included working in hospital admissions at New England Sinai Hospital and managing rental property in a historic retail building and home she owned in Cohasset. She was known to host her visiting family and friends with lobster caught by boats docked down the street from her house. She was active in First Parish Unitarian Church in Cohasset. When Roella retired in 2005, she moved to Alpharetta, GA to be closer to her grandchildren in Milton and Charlotte, NC. She joined Alpharetta First United Methodist Church (AFUMC) and was with The Fifty Four & More group, The Gourmettes dinner group , and the Wednesday night Sheep Feeders group.

But her true passion was always knitting. She knit dozens of dolls for AFUMC’s Honduras missions trips and outreach. She knit over a hundred Christmas stockings for her family, extended family, friends and their family. She traveled to yarn shops and knitting conferences in other states. She was almost never without her bag of knitting projects.

Roella enjoyed traveling with friends and family, including trips to Israel with a group from AFUMC. In Paris she celebrated a granddaughter’s 2nd birthday with cake and champagne on the Eiffel Tower. Above all else, one could say that Roella was always ready: to hop on a plane, to have lunch, to bake her famous Cohasset Crisps, to go to the knitting store, to watch the kids, to volunteer, to listen, to laugh, and above all else to be a friend.

Roella is survived by her daughter Karen Sharpe and her husband Gregory (Matthews, NC); daughter Amy Whittall and husband Colt (Milton, GA); sister Dorothy Morrow and husband Tom (Orchard Park, NY); sister Ethel Collins and husband Dr. Richard (Pittsburgh, PA); grandchildren Mariah Sharpe & Emily Sharpe (both of Matthews, NC); grand children Whit Whittall & Ella Whittall, of Milton, Georgia.

A service will be held at Alpharetta First United Methodist Church on Tuesday, March 9th at 4pm and streamed online. The service will be socially distanced per church protocol. The link to stream the service will be posted on the AFUMC website, Amy and Karen’s Facebook pages and e-mailed upon request to Amy, Karen and the AFUMC staff.

In lieu of flowers we ask that donations be made in her name to the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinsons’s or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.