Watsonville resident
Charles Melvin Roberts died Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003. He was 77.
Mr. Roberts had lived in the Monterey Bay Area for 70 years, the last 19 years in Watsonville. He retired in 1984 as owner of the California Employers Association after owning and operating many successful businesses and working for the State of California.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy at 17 and served for three years aboard the U.S.S. Heermann during World War II as a torpedoman’s mate third class. He was a lifetime member of the Watsonville Elks Lodge and the San Juan Bautista Veterans of Foreign Wars.
He is survived by his wife, Marion Elizabeth Roberts of Watsonville; his children and their spouses, Cy and Terene Roberts of Gustine, Philayna and John Favero and Coralene and Wesley Castaneda, all of Salinas, Dana and Ladd Gross of Watsonville and Glenna D. Roberts of Maui, Hawaii; his sisters, Wanda Onesti and Beverly Simms; nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
A celebration of Mr. Roberts’ life will be held Feb. 15 at noon at the VFW Hall in San Juan Bautista. Arrangements are through Mehl’s Colonial Chapel in Watsonville.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Cabrillo College Stroke Center, 501 Upper Park Rd., Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
