Obituary of Gary Roberts

Gary Wayne Roberts was born on September 27th, 1945 at Portland Adventist Hospital to Robert Donald Roberts, and Nellie Julia Fitzhugh. Following the untimely death of his father, Gary was raised by his mother with special help from his maternal grandparents, Lloyd and Sadie Fitzhugh and his uncle, Vernon Roberts. Gary enjoyed his time growing up in Portland with his brothers Vern Roberts, Scott Roberts, and sister Julie Roberts. He also spent many hours as a youth with his cousins Patty Simon and Jerry Strange.Gary attended Madison High School in Portland, Oregon. He married Darlene Wayman. They had four children together, two daughters and two sons, whom he maintained a relationship with throughout his life, Robert “Robbie” Roberts and Gerald “Jerry” Roberts. During his time in Portland Gary worked as a Roofer and General ContractorIn 1977, Gary married Florence Alene Trosper and relocated to Coos Bay, Oregon in 1985 where the couple raised their three wonderful children; Gary Roberts Jr., Wendy (Roberts) Hamilton, and Andrew Roberts. While living in Coos Bay Gary enjoyed spending time with his sons Robbie and Jerry and their families, and with his in-laws, including Keith and Mary Brown, Betty Warden, Tilda Thomas, Ben Trosper, Scott Brown, Ronald Brown, Michael Brown, Kellie Brown, and Mitchell Brown, and his daughter in-law Trudie Rouske. Gary loved his extended family that came with having so many in-laws and always looked forward to Christmas Eve gatherings at the Brown’s, and the summer family reunion at Simpson Park.Gary spent 20 plus wonderful years working at Edward’s Realty as their lead contractor and truly loved and appreciated his association with Norma and Laverne Edwards, and there children Terry and Joyce Edwards. His work days always started with walking his kids to the bus stop and seeing them off to school; then continued with his daily morning visits to Broadway Builders for visits with the Duvall Family (Dwayne, Sherry, and Roger) and the rest of the Broadway Builders staff and clients, including his nephew Jesse Trosper.When not working Gary had several leisure activities that he enjoyed. One of his favorite was coaching his children in baseball at the youth level through S.W.O.Y.A and Coos Bay’s Coast Little League. His kids, along with their teammates brought Gary great joy as he developed several strong teams during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s with Gary Jr. playing, and in the early 2000’s coaching his youngest child Andrew. He was proudest of his 2002 team that went 32-0 in the regular season and finished second in the regional qualifying tournament.Another pleasure was watching his kids and their friends compete and accumulate success in high school athletics. He took great pride in watching his son Gary Jr. play on the Marshfield football teams during their successful playoff runs during the 1994 and 1995 season. After football season, Gary became a wrestling dad and drove all around the state of Oregon to watch Gary Jr. and his fellow Pirates win tournament after tournament. He took pride in watching Gary win a state championship and become an All-American in 1996. He loved watching his daughter Wendy play Volleyball, Softball, and Cheerleading during her time at Marshfield. Gary was so proud of his youngest son Andrew, who won a state championship and was first team all state on both offense and defense playing for Sheldon High School in Eugene. These moments of watching his kids brought Gary a feeling of accomplishment as a parent that he provided his children with the opportunities to be successful and surround them with impactful peers.When not being involved with his children’s athletics, Gary enjoyed the free time he had at his small cabin on Tenmile Lake in Lakeside, Oregon. These times were special for Gary as he was able to connect with his daughter Wendy during their trips to lake. The cabin also gave Gary the opportunity to spend time with his brother Vern, his wife Shawn, and their children Nick Roberts, James Roberts, and Holly Roberts. Many family vacations were spent camping, boating, tubing, and fishing in Lakeside.In Gary’s later years the family moved to Eugene, Oregon and Gary enjoyed spending time watching his children grow into outstanding adults. He loved spending time talking on the phone and getting visits from his son Robbie. Additionally, he was so happy to see his children enter into happy and successful marriages. Gary Jr. married to Lisa Blackburn in 2008, Wendy married Ty Hamilton in 2011, and Andrew married Chelsea Welding in 2011. Gary also wanted to spend time and love his young grand children, Tyler Wright, Weston Wright, Brock Hamilton, and Allison Hamilton who are Wendy’s children. Claire Roberts and Olivia Roberts who are Gary Jr.’s kids, and was looking forward to seeing his youngest son Andrew welcome his first child into the world in September of 2014. Her name will be Gwenevere. It wasn’t just the young grandchildren that Gary was proud of. He was very prideful that Samantha Roberts (Robbie’s daughter) and Brandy Wilbanks (Jerry’s daughter) have grown up to be strong and successful women as adults.Gary led his life the way that he wanted. He was a private man who did not outwardly show his emotions. Underneath his tough guy exterior, he was a loving person who believed his life only got better with the more family and friends that he added to his world. His children and grandchildren brought Gary a sense of success that made him feel his legacy in the world would be one of love, compassion, and family. He will be missed by many, but remembered by all with respect and admiration for a life well done.Gary was proceeded in death by his parents Robert and Nellie Roberts, uncle Vernon Roberts, father in-law Keith Brown and mother in-law Mary Brown, brothers in-law Scott Brown, Pat Thomas, Ben Trosper, Stan Warden, daughter Jennifer Roberts, and his beloved dogs Angel and Peanut.A celebration of life BBQ and potluck will take place on Sunday, June 8th 2014 at 2:30 pm at Simpson Park in North Bend. The family has set up the Gary W. Roberts Memorial Fund to help with the building of baseball fields through the BACAPA Project for South Coast Youth. To donate to the memorial fund please send donations to Gary W. Roberts Memorial Fund, 1364 Goodpasture Island Road, Eugene OR 97401