Viola I. Hobbs

Viola I. Hobbs, 91, passed away peacefully on November 20, 2025 in Bluffton, South Carolina with her two children by her side. Born in her grandmother’s house in Thomas, Oklahoma on October 6, 1934 in the middle of The Great Depression , Vi was the oldest child of Mildred (Dewey) Barton Walker and Loy Barton. She is preceded in death by Charles Hobbs, her high school sweetheart and beloved husband of 61 years and two younger siblings, Norma Jean Carey (Sam) and Robert Barton (Judy). She is survived by her two devoted children Douglas Hobbs (Dana) and Deborah Tremain (Tom), and sister Kim (Barton) Ashurst (Rick). She cherished her three grandchildren, Charles R. Hobbs (Lauren), Katherine Malone (Nick), and Thomas Tremain (Marque), her two great-grandchildren, Elliana and Wesley Malone. Vi is also survived by six nieces and nephews, many cousins, and her sister-in-law. Vi started her career as a bookkeeper in Emporia, Kansas and continued in that field in Lawrence, Kansas while Charlie was in graduate school at the University of Kansas, where she became a lifelong Jayhawk basketball fan. After Charlie graduated, they moved to St. Louis where Vi stayed home raising Doug and Debbie, only returning to bookkeeping once the kids went to college. Vi was the 1st Mate, cook, race timer, buoy spotter, accountant, scheduler, medic and social chairman on their various sailboats, making numerous overnight passages across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas with Charlie on their beloved sailboat Moonglow. After Charlie’s passing in 2016, Vi moved to Bluffton, South Carolina to be closer to Debbie and Tom. Besides her devotion to family, Vi was passionate about sailing, walking on the beach, reading novels, spoiling Debbie’s dogs, and watching Masterpiece Theater. Consistent with her wishes, her and Charlie’s ashes will be spread together in their favorite islands in the Bahamas. The family asks that memorial contributions be made in Vi’s name to the Parkinson’s Foundation at www.parkinson.org Arrangements are being made by Sauls Funeral Home, Bluffton, South Carolina