Alberta Cole was born in Bath, New York, and in 1925 she and her twin brother Albert, then three years old, along with their four brothers, were placed out by the Children's Aid Society in McPherson, Kansas. Walter and Anna Work of Windom, Kansas, took in the twins and changed their names to Roberta and Robert Work. After graduating from high school, Roberta worked as a switchboard operator. She married LeRoy Miller in 1943, and they had one child, Charlotte. After her first husband died in 1958, she married Cecil Slifer in 1960, and the family made their home in Marion, Kansas. During time spent in the hospital for polio, she was given the nickname "Happy" because of her positive outlook. She left a legacy of love for family, by birth or by choice.