City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Robert Easterling
Cary, North Carolina
Age 82.
Died 04/29/2025.
Robert Easterling, formerly of Albuquerque, NM and Guthrie, OK passed away April 29, 2025, in Cary, NC. He was born in Waukegan, IL on September 25, 1942. He was known for his love of family, as a faithful Christian and church member wherever he resided, and for his commitment to giving to help others.
Robert was the valedictorian at Tonkawa (OK) High School in 1960. Following bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Oklahoma State University, he graduated from OSU with a Ph.D. in statistics. At a summer job he met Judy Cross, and they married in 1965. In 1967, he and Judy moved to Albuquerque, NM when he joined the statistics group at Sandia National Laboratories. Professional highlights included an assignment as the Editor of the journal Technometrics, being elected a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, and serving as a member of two National Research Council panels for the National Academy of Sciences.
After his retirement from Sandia in 2001, he taught introductory statistics courses at the University of Michigan, the University of Auckland, McMurry University, and the Naval Postgraduate School. Motivated by this experience, he authored a book, Fundamentals of Statistical Experimental Design and Analysis, published in 2015.
Robert would never miss his son’s soccer games. A huge New Mexico Lobos’ fan, he was the 10 millionth fan at The Pit. He enjoyed traveling, especially the back roads of America in the RV with Susie. Membership at St. John’s United Methodist Church for over 50 years was central to his spiritual and church family life. Interests included bluegrass music, his 1964 Ford Fairlane, fish tacos, and the histories of New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Robert is survived by his sons Mike (spouse Karen) and Jeff; his brother Lael Easterling (Katherine), sister Connie Easterling Collins (Tom) and sister Verla Easterling Raines Cline (Mike). Robert married Susie Hinkle in 1999. She passed in 2019, and Rob loved her adult children like his own: Jeff Hinkle (Valerie), Mandi Venable (Paul), Matt Hinkle (Suzy), and Heidi Vargas (Joey). Grandchildren: Jason Easterling, Malia Easterling, Macy Easterling, Matthew Kaltenbaugh, Tony Hinkle, Kaci Bill, Andrew Hinkle, Landon Vargas, Julian Vargas. Great-grandchildren: Evelyn Bill, Emilia Bill, Lily Hinkle, Grayden Hinkle.
Robert is preceded in death by wife Judy Cross Easterling, wife Susie Hinkle Easterling, father Verlin Easterling, mother Bonnie Bennett Easterling and infant son Mark (b.1969-’69 dec.).
Dementia took a lot from Robert. But he never lost his sense of humor, his joy attending church, or his desire to help others. And until the end he was still planning his next road trip.
Favorite Bible verses:
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to devote ourselves to the good deeds for which God has designed us.” Ephesians 2:10
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? It comes from The Lord, maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-4
Services are being planned for Albuquerque, NM May 17 and Guthrie, OK May 31.
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$1596.75
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation with a private family viewing. A private family viewing allows up to 10 immediate family members or friends to spend time with a loved one when a public visitation is not preferred.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.