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George "Ron" Roberts Obituary

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George "Ron" Roberts

West Springfield, MA

April 6, 1934 - April 9, 2021

George "Ron" Roberts Obituary

George “Ron” Ronald Roberts passed away peacefully on Wednesday April 7, 2021 surrounded by the love of his family. Ron, the eldest of three brothers, was born during the Great Depression on April 6, 1934 in Chicopee, MA to his late parents, George and Mary (Galica) Roberts. Ron graduated from Chicopee High School in 1951, where he excelled at sports and music, playing trumpet, football and baseball. While his high school testimonial stated that he wanted to be a musician, the closest he came to that dream was singing at family gatherings. One of our favorites was his rendition of “McNamara’s Band” which was complete with dance and theatrics. As an apprentice carpenter, he worked from graduation until enlisting in the United States Marine Corps in January of 1954 with his brother Jim. He proudly served his country until his honorable discharge as a Corporal in June of 1956. He returned to carpentry and retired from Johnson Acoustics after more than 30 years of dedicated service. If you ever visited any Friendly’s Restaurant, the ceiling above was most likely installed by him.  Ron was an avid golfer who enjoyed golf outings with family, friends, and his golf buddies.  Amazingly, he shot a hole-in-one on October 9, 2003 at Tekoa Country Club.

Of the many titles he earned during his lifetime, he is best known for being a devoted husband, dad, grandfather, great grandfather, brother, uncle and friend. With these titles came various nicknames: Pop, Poppy, Dad, Ronny, Ronbo, Frank and Coach. He delighted in making everyone around him laugh including inciting joy in the hearts of his great grandchildren who met him at the door with… “Poppy, is the monster here?” always responding with an “arrrrggghh” and a chase.

Famous quotes of his regularly included, but were not limited to: “Semper Fi”, “it’s so terribly hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way”, “chi-ha”, “it’s raining from Maine to Florida”, “Par-ski”, and “Bah-humbug”.

He was a life-time member of the “4H” club: Humble, Honorable, Heroic and Human and will be remembered for his zest to live life to the fullest, having no regrets, and the undying love for his family.

He leaves to cherish his memory, his wife Mary, the love of his life, his faithful sons and daughters-in-law, Mark and Barbara, Steven and Donna, his step children whom he loved as his own, Cindy Ott (Kevin), Melissa Lucier (Roland) and Nathan “Jim” Smith Jr., his adoring grandchildren; Stephanie (Kevin), Taylor (Nick), Kristen (Jay), Michael, Matthew, Cameron, Jake, Sam, and the apples of his eyes, his great grandchildren, James, Christian, Sophia and Zachary, his loving brother and sister-in-law Dennis and Patricia, his daughter Peri Jacques and grandchildren Cali, Jordan, and Noah, many nieces and nephews and his fur babies Cinder and Georgie-Boy. He was predeceased by his parents, his brother and sister-in-law James and Elaine and granddaughter Gabrielle Roberts. Calling Hours will be held MONDAY from 12 - 2 PM at the TOOMEY-O’BRIEN FUNERAL HOME, 1043 WESTFIELD ST. Burial with military honors will be held at 3 PM in the Massachusetts Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery, 1390 Main St., Agawam. Masks and social distancing is required at the funeral home and capacity will be limited at the cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation in Ron’s name to the Dakin Humane Society, P.O. Box 6307, Springfield, MA 01101-6307 

                                                                    May his memory be eternal.

                                                                               “Semper Fi”

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