Rich's Obituary

For those of you who do not subscribe to our local paper, here is his obituary which ran on 4/28/2009.

Richard C. Roberts Obituary

Richard Charles Roberts died peacefully at home in San Rafael on April 23, 2009 after a courageous battle with cancer. He was 38 years old.

Rich was born in Cambridge, MA, and was raised in Wareham, MA where he attended Bishop Stang High School in a nearby town. He graduated from Boston College, and began his career as a CPA at Coopers & Lybrand. He soon moved out west to southern California to work at the Walt Disney Co. After several years in Santa Monica, Rich moved to the Bay Area where he earned an MBA from the Haas School of Business in Berkeley, CA. While at Haas, he discovered his entrepreneurial streak, and began working at start-ups in San Francisco. He co-founded and sold an internet marketing company, and helped turn around a struggling CD/DVD duplication service.

Rich had many passions. He enjoyed traveling whether it be related to work or pleasure. Some of his favorite spots were Bali, Thailand, Costa Rica and Australia. He was a passionate swing dancer. In grad school, he often coordinated many swing dance nights with his friends, and all the gals wanted to dance under his lead. He could talk sports to anyone, and he was always faithful to his Boston teams- the Red Sox, Celtics and the Pats. Most recently, he found that he was a humorous and talented blog writer as he chronicled his fight with cancer for family and friends.

Most importantly, Rich was a wonderful and beloved father, husband, son and friend. He was born smiling, and throughout his life he was an optimist and lived life without any regrets. Rich’s favorite mantra was, “Never give up!”

He is survived by his wife Michelle, daughter Lucy, parents Richard (Duke) and Diane of Wareham, MA, sister and brother-in-law Sharon and David Pina, and nieces Lauren and Rachel Pina of Buzzard’s Bay, MA. Additionally, there are many friends and family in the Bay Area and across the country who will miss Rich.

A funeral service is planned for 5:00pm on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at Church of the Redeemer at 123 Knight Drive in San Rafael. A reception will immediately follow at Peacock Gap Golf and Country Club at 333 Biscayne Avenue in San Rafael. A private burial service will occur on Thursday, April 30, 2009 at Mt. Tamalpais Cemetary.

A memorial service to be held in Massachusetts near Rich’s hometown of Wareham is also being planned.

If anyone would like to honor Rich’s memory, the family requests that donations please be made to any of the following organizations.

1) A fund has been established to benefit Lucy's education. If you would like to make a contribution, please make checks payable to Lucy Roberts and send it to:

The Lucy Roberts Fund
2030 Union Street, Suite 205
San Francisco, CA 94123

2) The Richard C. Roberts Scholarship has been established at Rich's high school alma mater in Massachusetts. Contributions should be sent to:

Richard C. Roberts Scholarship
Bishop Stang, Attention: Advancement
500 Slocum Road
North Dartmouth, MA 02747

Please make checks payable to Bishop Stang High School and note that your donation is for the Richard C. Roberts Scholarship.

3) The Melanoma Research Foundation; Donation information can be found online at http://www.melanoma.org/memorialdonation.aspx