Joseph Roberts, an authority in Special Education who taught hundreds of Bay Area students, died of a long illness Friday night at his home in Pacifica. He was 73.
Dr. Roberts earned his B.A. in Speech, and went on to receive his Master's Degree in Speech and Education in 1956, also at San Jose State College. In 1968, he earned his Ed.D. in Education Administration at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. He also held a Marriage, Family and Child Counselor certificate and became a Reverend in the American Fellowship Church, so that he could perform weddings for friends and family.
Born in Los Angeles in 1926 to Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, he was raised in Long Beach. Roberts put himself through college by working in the shipyards during World War Two, and later as a bus boy. His goal was to become an actor, but he soon decided on teaching, as a more secure profession. His ambitions were fulfilled when he landed a job as a speech and drama teacher at Washington Township Union High School in 1951, the only high school serving what is now Fremont, Newark and Union City. His early career was interrupted in 1952, when he was drafted during the Korean conflict. He was stationed in the Signal Corps at Camp San Luis Obispo, where he learned photography, which was to become a life long hobby.
After the war, Roberts returned to Washington High, where he staged four shows a year with his students. One notable production was a silent movie filmed in the Niles area of Fremont complete with saloon girls and cowboys on horseback. Roberts also acted and directed numerous community theater productions. His melodramas were well-known to local audiences, who enjoyed hissing at the villains and cheering the heroes. He also played a starring role in an Ohlone Community College production of his favorite play, Tevya and His Daughters.
Roberts moved into school administration as the Student Activities Director at Washington High, where he's remembered for the orange and black beanie he wore on game days, and the ties he had specially made for the faculty in the school colors.
In 1962, Roberts moved to the just-completed Newark High School, where he was Vice Principal and Dean for 10 years. He later moved to the district office as Director of Research and Special Services. It was there that he became interested in the needs of Special Education students, and landed the district more than 1-million dollars in federal grants.
After his retirement in 1981, Roberts began a second career as a college professor. He was a visiting Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of the Pacific, lecturer at California State University at Hayward and at C.S.U. San Francisco, Associate Professor at San Jose State, and served as an Education Consultant to the Schwab Foundation for Learning and the Glide Foundation. Most recently, he served as Program Coordinator, Special Education/Educational Therapy for U-C Santa Cruz Extension. He wrote numerous research papers on education and co-authored the book Legal Rights of the Handicapped in 1980. He was a member of the Advisory Council of Parents Helping Parents and received their Valley of Hearts Education Award in 1997. He also was a member of the National Advisory Council of the American Council on Rural Special Education, and was honored as the group's Member of the Year in 1986 and 1988.
Roberts was involved in a number of community endeavors. He was one of the founders of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Fremont, was active in the early civil rights movement locally, and was president of the Jaycees. He successfully worked with others to save the olive trees planted by Native Americans near Mission San Jose de Guadalupe. He was president of Fremont's Sister City committee, and convinced local officials to name the new lake in Central Park Lake Elizabeth, after Elizabeth, Australia. He hosted the mayor of Elizabeth, who traveled to Fremont with a vial of water from his homeland to christen the new recreational facility.
Roberts is survived by his wife of 27 years, Sandra; a blended family of four daughters and a son, Jennifer Roberts of Arcadia, Fran Golden of Rohnert Park, Rachel Barrett of Berkeley, Rebecca Roberts of San Jose and Stuart Merrill of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and 8 grandchildren.
The family suggests donations be made to: Parents Helping Parents, San Jose or Kaiser Hospice.
A memorial service will be held: March 5th, 2000 at 4:00 p.m., Chapel by the Sea Funeral Home, 801 Oceana Blvd., Pacifica.
From the South:
Take freeway 280 North
Exit at Highway 1 Pacifica
Once on the highway, stay on 1 South. At the bottom of the hill leading into Pacifica, take the Manor Exit. Turn Left at the first stop and go over the freeway to the stop sign. Turn right onto Oceana Blvd. (which parallels the freeway). Chapel by the Sea is about 1/2 mil south on the left hand side. There is a flagpole in front.
Coming from the San Mateo Coast:
Take Highway 1 North. Take the Clarendon Exit and go North (straight ahead) onto Oceana Blvd. Chapel by the Sea is on the right just past the Good Shepherd Church's entrance. You can enter just past the flagpole.
Coming from the North:
Take freeway 280 South. Exit onto Highway 1 South, Pacifica. Once on the freeway, stay on 1 South. At the bottom of the hill leading into Pacifica, take the Manor Exit. Turn Left at the first stop and go over the freeway to the stop sign. Turn left onto Oceana Blvd. (which parallels the freeway). Chapel by the Sea is about 1/2 mile south on the left hand side. There is a flagpole in front.
