Vernon Richard Roberts, 76, of Poteau,
Oklahoma passed away on Sunday, March 15, 2015
in Ft. Smith, Arkansas.
Vernon was born on August 2, 1938 to
Delmer and Mae (Hudson) Roberts in Poteau, Oklahoma.
Vernon married the love of his life, Phyllis Bennett on October 24, 1958 in Poteau, OK.
He was a successful businessman, entrepreneur, and real
estate investor. He finished his education at Midway school near Monroe. His first job was working for F.L. Holton,
Sr. He also went to California and worked the potato
harvest. He then started working for the
Hester Truck Line of Poteau in 1955.
Seven years later he started his own trucking business, Roberts
Trucking, which he maintained until 1984.
In 1976 he added an abstract business, Roberts Abstract Co., which he
operated until 1993. One year after
starting the abstract business, he began to concentrate on real estate and oil
& gas investments. In June 1997, he
became the dealer principal in Ford dealership in Poteau until June 2002.
Governor David Boren
appointed Vernon
to the Oklahoma Industrial Development Commission in 1972 and he served four
years on that board. He also served six
years on the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission beginning in 1983.
Vernon
was a charter member of the CASC Development Foundation Board of Trustees and made the first contribution, a gift of
$5,000. He served as chairman of the
CASC Board of Trustees for 27 years and Chairman Emeritus for 8 years. He was inducted in the CASC Hall of
Fame in 1996 and received an honorary degree from CASC in March 1997. He
was a member of First
United Methodist
Church in Poteau.
He was preceded in death by his parents; son, Jason Roberts; and
brothers, Donald Roberts, Wayne Roberts, and Floyd Roberts.
He is survived by his wife,
Phyllis; daughter, Stacey Roberts of Poteau; son, Brian and wife Mandy Roberts
of Poteau; sister, Evie Faulkenberry of Bentonville,
AR; and three grandsons, Kenny
and Kody Whitehead and Nicholas Roberts.
A private graveside service was held at 3 pm on Monday, March 16,
2015 at the Oakland
Cemetery with Jim Cook
officiating.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the CASC Development
Foundation, 1507 S. McKenna, Poteau, OK
74953 or to the Poteau First United
Methodist Church,
109 S. Harper, Poteau, OK 74953.
I am so saddened to hear about Vernon's passing. I have a list of people that have had a huge impact on my life and Vernon and Phyllis Roberts are among the top. I worked at Roberts Trucking and also The Abstract Company in the early seventies. I learned so much about work ethics and life in general working for this dynamic couple. They treated all their employees very well. Vernon went with me to the Ford Dealership when I got my 1971 Mach 1 Mustang. He always had neat cars and would let me drive them for work business. They took all of to nice restaurants frequently and to Taylor's Inn a lot. I babysat for Stacey and Brian. I will be forever grateful for their support during a difficult time of my life. RIP Vernon. You will be remembered as a caring person who dearly loved his family.
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