Harold Gene Roberts

Harold Gene Roberts, 85, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, died Sunday, June 12, 2022. Private funeral services will be provided by Barron Funeral Home. Interment with military honors will follow at Chester Memorial Gardens. Harold was born in Lockhart, SC, on August 22, 1936, to the late Elmer Brownlow Roberts and Ollie Foster Roberts. Upon graduating from Lockhart High School, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served at both Parris Island and Quantico, VA. During a trip back home, he met the love of his life, Nan Lou Roddey, and would make countless more trips home to see her until they were married in 1958. Together, they would have two daughters, Cheryl and Miriam. Harold worked for Borden Dairy Company as a supervisor, in which capacity he would mentor others for his entire career. Though a working father of two, Harold attended Winthrop University, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 1976. Upon retiring, he returned to Winthrop to complete a Master’s in Liberal Arts in 2002. His thesis, “Life in a Cotton Mill Village,” was a first-person history of growing up in Lockhart and can be found in many upstate libraries. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Chester where he taught Sunday school for many years. Harold is survived by Nan Roddey Roberts, his wife of 63 years; by daughters Cheryl Roberts Tuttle and her husband Jon, and Miriam Roberts Melton and her husband, Eddie; by his grandchildren, Staci Wessinger Dreher, Jill Wessinger Piers and her husband DJ, Alissa Melton Berthelette and her husband Tyler, Alexander Lee Melton and his wife Madison, and Joshua Ryan Tuttle; and by great-grandchildren Noah James Dreher, Sullivan Henry Piers, and Charlotte Lynn Piers. He is survived also by sisters-in-law Melissa Roberts of Hendersonville, NC, and Nell Roddey of Blackstock, SC, as well as several nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by three brothers, Charles, Johnny, and Eddie Roberts, and a sister, Betty Roberts Burns. Harold’s family is honored to remember him as a strong, dedicated, and supportive husband and father whose integrity, gentle wisdom and sense of humor will remain an inspiration. His family is also grateful to Alissa, his grand-daughter, whose constant care preserved in his last days the warmth and dignity he deserved. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to First Baptist Church PO Box 518, Chester, SC, 29706 or the Wayne T. Patrick Hospice House 2275 India Hook Road, Rock Hill, SC 29732. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.barronfuneralhome.com.