A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Roberta ‘Bobbie’ DeKemper

It’s been 19 years since Roberta “Bobbie” DeKemper stepped away from the classroom and into her role at the Portage Township Food Pantry. DeKemper currently serves as the pantry’s director.

DeKemper is a native of the Southern Indiana town of Dubois, which is about 10 miles from French Lick. She taught physical education, health, swimming and life skills in the School City of East Chicago for 33 years. DeKemper has been retired from teaching for 19 years. The thing she misses the most about teaching is the students.

“There’s never a dull moment,” DeKemper said. “The kids say stuff that makes you have to step out of the classroom to just laugh and then come back in like nothing happened.”

DeKemper also coached girls basketball. She first coached at East Chicago Roosevelt and then at East Chicago Central. She is a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2002. DeKemper’s teams from Roosevelt won state championships in 1976-77 and 1978-79, going undefeated in both seasons. She still keeps in touch with her former players, who she views as an extended family.

“They were a great group of girls, and they still are,” DeKemper said. “In fact, they’ll be coming over to my house this summer. They let me know to have those ribs ready.”

One of DeKemper’s former basketball players, LaTaunya Pollard, went on to play at Long Beach State from 1979 to 1983. Pollard also qualified for the 1980 Olympic Women’s Basketball Team but didn’t play when the United States pulled out of the 1980 games in Moscow.

Portage has changed drastically over the last 45 years that DeKemper has lived there. She noted the city’s population has increased considerably since the early 1980s. While she pointed out there are new subdivisions popping up all over the city, DeKemper thinks the growth is a good thing.

DeKemper still goes back to Dubois a couple of times a year. She still loves her Jeeps, the mascot of Northeast Dubois High School. DeKemper maintains a close relationship with her sister, who now lives in Batesville. They go back to their hometown to visit childhood friends and play poker.

“It is always a fun time,” DeKemper said. “You know when you rip on each other, it’s just fun. You just go and relive the childhood memories.”

Another thing that keeps DeKemper coming back to Southern Indiana is the rural landscape. She soaks in the beauty of the southern part of the state during the spring, and she only admires it even more in the fall. She and her sister often visit Dubois in October, when the leaves are beginning to turn.

DeKemper believes the Portage community is very generous, especially the city’s businesses. She noted they are very supportive of the food pantry. However, DeKemper likes the dedicated, hard-working volunteers at the food pantry the most. She estimated the pantry currently has 25 people volunteering their time.

“The shelves don’t stock themselves,” DeKemper said. “You’ve got to order it. You’ve got to go pick it up. You’ve got to pick the donations. You’ve got to bring them back. You’ve got to separate them. You’ve got to stock them. You got to stock the shelves for when we’re open. There’s a lot of work, and we have the volunteers to do it.”