Obituary

Born on May 5, 1951, Donald DeWayne (Don) Roberts departed this life and returned to God on June 28, 2020 from his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  He was 69 years old.

Don was the kindest, gentlest, and most considerate of men, in the example and tradition of men on both the Roberts and Forrest sides of the family.  He loved his family and extended family beyond measure, and told us so.  Don possessed what can only be described as a rollicking personality.  At family dinners, Don would often hold everyone spellbound by his stories, punctuated with big gestures and astonished faces, while creating the illusion that he was relating a simple truth.  All you had to do was look around the table to watch the children, their faces enchanted and rather open-mouthed at the fantastic visions of his semi-believable tale, all the way to an inevitable punchline. 

Don lived with an abundance of passions, some temporary and some lasting.  He loved boating, he taught gun safety classes for many years, and he possessed an enduring passion for music.  Don played the guitar with skill and feeling, improving and enhancing his playing and singing since childhood.  One of his great pleasures in recent years since retirement was a weekly Wednesday night gathering of music lovers who met for an evening of playing their guitars together.

Don was welcomed to this world in El Reno, Oklahoma by his parents, Verne Roberts

and Virginia (Forrest) Roberts, and two elder sisters, Dianne and Carla.  The family lived briefly in OKC, then for three years in Edmond, Oklahoma, then moved to Tulsa in 1966, where Don graduated from Will Rogers high school.  After a few years spent attending Oklahoma City University, Don explored the country, taking sojourns in a suburb of Washington, D.C. and California.  He returned to Tulsa with the ambition of being a good son.  Don fulfilled that ambition in every way.

Don worked for the City of Tulsa for twenty-five years.  For many of those years, he was the supervisor for the city’s traffic light division.  Don married Catherine Schott in November 1977 and was a loving husband till his passing.  He’d been the devoted sole caregiver for Cathy, for many years, and was most attentive to her needs, desires, and feelings.  Their daughter Lisa Marie was born on November 12, 1982.  Lisa was the light of their lives.  Don was a loving father, as well as being fun and funny with her, full of life and love.