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campaign of the Presbyterian Church (USA) — Roberts also faithfully served the national church as a member of the General Assembly Council (GAC), including serving in 1993–94 as its vice chair.
The couple recently celebrated 57 years of marriage.
The family released a statement that read: “He instilled in us a deep love of God, and a sense of responsibility to others. We are at peace knowing he is being received into heaven.”
Services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, at the Triangle Chapel on Keesler Air Force Base. Visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Burial will follow at the Biloxi National Cemetary in Biloxi.
“Larry Roberts was a pastor’s ideal layman, active in the larger church and in the local parish,” said the Rev. Dr. Ted Hanawalt, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Bay St. Louis, MS, the Roberts family’s parish. “Quiet, steadfast, wise, and generous with his time, talents and resources. Although among the oldest members of the congregation, his ideas were innovative and strategic in the promotion of the church.
“When he served on the session, his committee was Church Growth, and his standard was: Church growth begins with spiritual growth. His leadership, counsel and genuine friendship will be greatly missed.”
Roberts entered the U.S. Army Air Corps as a private and retired as a colonel. He was a graduate of the 44K class of the prestigious Tuskegee Airmen, a course begun in Alabama in 1942 to give flight training to blacks who were excluded from aviation training in the military.
By the end of World War II almost 1,000 African Americans had won their wings at Tuskegee Army Air Field. They flew more than 200 bomber escort missions without a single loss to enemy fire.
He graduated the program as a second lieutenant and was assigned to the 477th Medium Bombardment Group and later the 332nd fighter wing.
Roberts flew Piper Cubs, Boeing B-25 bombers, C-54 transports and F-86 fighter jets. His unit trained in light bombers, but WW II ended before he flew in combat. Roberts served in Vietnam, where he won one of three Legion of Merit medals.
His daughter, Robin Roberts, who is the news anchor for ABC’s “Good Morning America” program, flew in an A-T6, an aircraft similar to what her father had flown, during a televised visit to the Tuskegee airfield in 2003. Her viewers watched as she taxied down the airfield runway at sunrise, the site where the Tuskegee Airmen did their initial flight training.
Among the 19 service medals and awards received during his service career are the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Joint Service Commendations Medal, the United States Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Distinguished Service Order and Air Service Medal, received from the Republic of Vietnam.
Roberts served in both technical and command assignments in the United States, Japan, Canada, Turkey and Vietnam.
This included duty as a jet fighter pilot in the Air Defense Command and as a flight instructor at the fighter school at Williams Air Force Base, as a ground electronics officer in Japan and Canada, as chief of ground communication electronics and meteorological maintenance at an air division headquarters, as a department chief for ground electronics and officer training at Keesler Air Force Base, as commander of a NATO communications organization and as chief of communication electronics and logistics advisor to the Vietnamese Air Force headquarters. He served as commander of the Maintenance and Supply Group at Keesler Air Force Base.
Roberts was deeply involved in both his church and his community. He was a former member and chairman of the Presbytery of Mississippi Council and an elder at First Presbyterian Church of Bay St. Louis. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Leadership Gulf Coast, a former member and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Pass Christian School District, a former member and chairman of the Executive Board of the Mississippi School Boards Association, a former member and chairman of the southern region of the Mississippi School Boards Association, and director of the Genesis Foundation.
He served as a member of the GAC from 1989 to 1995.
The Rev. Neal Weatherhogg of Topeka, KS — who was the GAC chair when Roberts served as its vice chair — remembers Roberts as a gentle human being. “I just have so much respect for that man’s integrity. He was a gentle man and a true gentleman. He carried himself with a quiet dignity. And he absolutely loved the Presbyterian Church.
“I never heard him refuse an opportunity to serve. If you asked him to do so, he’d always answer, ‘Yes, I’d be happy to.’“
Roberts was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Dorothy Roberts, and one brother, Robert D. Roberts.
He is survived by his wife; one son, Lawrence E. Roberts II of Houston, TX; three daughters, Dorothy Roberts McEwen of Long Beach, MS, Sally-Ann Roberts Craft of New Orleans, LA, and Robin R. Roberts of New York City; eight grandchildren; and two great-granddaughters.
Two of Roberts’ daughters anchor news broadcasts. Sally-Ann Roberts Craft is the morning anchor of WWL-TV 4 in New Orleans.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be sent to the Lawrence and Lucimarian Roberts/Helpline Scholarship Fund of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, 1596 Glenn Swetman St., Biloxi, MS 39530.
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