John Dennis Roberts
1939-2015
John D. Roberts was born in Duncan, Oklahoma, to Fred Foster and Mary Catherine (Hastings) Roberts in 1939. He graduated from Duncan High School in 1957. John D. was an industrious boy, starting with the delivery of the Duncan Banner when he was 11 years old. As a teenager he ushered for local theaters and sold fireworks during the summers. He was active in Boys State, high school student council and was Key Club Governor’s Man in 1956.
John received his BS in civil engineering from OU in May, 1962. Following graduation, he enlisted in the USAF and upon completion of basic training was in the active reserves and worked for ODOT. He received an honorable discharge in 1968. As a civil engineer, most of John’s professional career was dedicated to working with concrete in building roads and bridges, solving problems, publishing research reports, and always striving to contribute knowledge and design fundamentals for the betterment of the product and the industry. In 1964 he relocated to Southern California to work for California Department of Highways.
In March 1965, he swept Suzanne (Sue) Trudel off her feet and they were married on August 21, 1965. They were fortunate to enjoy many travel opportunities, especially trips to Canada to visit Sue’s relatives. Every five years, they would retrace their honeymoon trip in California. John enjoyed a good laugh and had an Irish wit! He undertook a lot of responsibility at an early age and met life’s challenges courageously. He could be counted on to be your friend for life!
He is survived by his wife, Suzanne; sister-in-law Karen Pritchard Choy (Bill); nephew Jon Paul Pritchard; cousins Nancy Williams, Ft. Worth, TX, Larry Milliken, Kate Smithers (Bob), and Dorothy Codrey; his godchildren, some very close wonderful friends and the “Canadian” contingent.
Special thanks to Frontier Hospice; Chris Martin, MD, and his staff; the staff at Care By Design; and from Sue to Carol Woods and Nancy English – “you two, who have been with me on this rough voyage -we will still be in our three-seater kayak paddling away, but I will no longer be paddling as hard as you will have to continue to do. But I will be there, because it is “our kayak” forever! Donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or American Heart Association.
A wake service will be at 5:30 p.m. Sunday July 26th 2015 at Matthews Funeral Home Chapel with a Mass of Christian Burial at 2:00 p.m. Monday July 27, 2015 at Christ the King Catholic Church with interment to follow in Duncan, Oklahoma.
To view the video of John’s life cut and paste the below link in your URL browser and follow the video instructions.
http://thetributecenter.com/tributeplayer/default.aspx?webvideoID=31833
John was a great neighbor and friend. And he was always so willing to teach.
He’ll be missed greatly.
McGuire family