Robert Roberts

Robert W. Roberts, (Bob) died on August 3, 2022 after battling Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), a rare brain disease. He was born on May 15, 1933 to Owen Allen and Mable Ione (Everitt) Roberts in Manly, Iowa. Bob was one of five children who was raised solely by his mother as his father was killed in a car accident when he was only eight years old.

Bob served in the United States Marine Corps from 1951 until 1953. He bravely fought in the Korean War where he was a rifleman and received a Purple Heart for being wounded in action. Upon his discharge in 1954, he married Leatrice Schlosser. Soon after they married, Bob and Lea moved to California where Bob attended Northrop Aeronautical Institute in Inglewood, California. After graduation, he started working for Continental Airlines at Los Angeles International Airport where he served for 25 years and ultimately became the Director of Aircraft Maintenance. During this time, Bob and Lea raised two children, Janene (Beard) and Daniel Roberts. After his official retirement, he continued working as a consultant and oversaw the modification of foreign aircraft to U.S. standards. This job offered work abroad in England, Switzerland, Germany and France. When his consulting work was completed, Bob and Lea returned home to El Segundo, California.

Once stateside and after a few ski trips to Telluride, they made the decision to move from the hustle and bustle of California life to the quietest mountains of Ridgway, Colorado. They built and lived in their dream home for the next 24 years, eventually moving down off the mountain to be closer to their family in Montrose, Colorado.

Bob and Lea shared 67 years of marriage where they enjoyed spending time with family, traveling, skiing, snowmobiling, hosting game nights, dancing, drinks at the Grit, and countless hours volunteering for the Ouray County Rodeo Association. You could find them escaping the cold Colorado winters by going to their second home on the Colorado River where they played on their boat and enjoyed other water activities.

One of Bob’s favorite mottos was, “can’t take it with you!” He embraced this motto by living life to the fullest; he was an extremely generous man who gave so much of his time and money to family, friends and various charities. Bob will always be remembered for his witty and dry sense of humor. A common quote that Bob is known to reply with when asked if he would like a Jack and water, ice cream or something else obvious, his response would be, “bear shit in the woods?”

Bob is survived by his wife Leatrice (Schlosser) Roberts; daughter, Janene (David) Beard of Montrose, CO; son, Daniel (Nancy) Roberts of Gilbert, AZ; Grandchildren, Ashley (Christopher) Waite and children, Evan and Oliver, of Medina, OH; Jessica (Benjamin) Larson and son, Zachary, of Montrose, CO; Andrew (Jessica) Beard and children, Layla and Wyatt, of Montrose, CO; Caston Roberts of Gilbert, AZ; and Quade (Mallory) Roberts of Gilbert, AZ.

Bob is proceeded in death by his parents Owen Allen and Mabel Ione Roberts; siblings John Tesene, Elizabeth “Betty” Jacobson, David Roberts, and Beverly Burnett.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, August 14, 2022 at the Ute Indian Museum from 4-6pm. 17253 Chipeta Road, Montrose, CO 81403.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Bob’s PSP Awareness which will fund Cure PSP, an organization working to raise awareness and fund research for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), a rare, incurable, and terminal neurodegenerative disease. Donations can be made to https://www.gofundme.com/f/bobs-psp-awareness?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer