Josephine Taylor Roberts

Josephine (Joey) Taylor Roberts was born to Carloyn Bliss Taylor and Edward Hamelin Taylor in Boston, MA in 1928. She grew up with her two younger sisters, Mary Ann and Margie, primarily in Maplewood, NJ and Swansea, MA, and she graduated from Northfield School for Girls (now known as Northfield Mt. Hermon). She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Scripps College in Claremont, CA, where she met her future husband, Morton S. Roberts, through her college roommate. They married in 1951 and were married for 72 years.

Following their marriage, Joey and Mort first lived in Pasadena, CA and then Berkeley, CA while Mort completed his graduate work in astronomy, followed by several years in Cambridge, MA, before settling in Charlottesville, VA in 1964 when Mort accepted a position at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Their daughter Elizabeth was born two years later. They remained primarily in Charlottesville until moving to Alexandria, VA in 2013 to be near Elizabeth and her family, although they spent a year in Green Bank, WV in the late 1960s and lived several months in Cambridge, England and Groningen, the Netherlands in 1972, Aspen, Colorado in the late 1970s and a full year in Cambridge, England in the late 1980s.

Joey held many jobs over the years, in addition to being a homemaker, including teaching preschool, teaching blind children, working in retail, and working as a patient representative at University of Virginia Hospital. She also volunteered with many organizations over the years, such as the Charlottesville Oratorio Society, the League of Women Voters, Hospice of the Piedmont, tutoring in the public schools, and the Salvation Army preschool program. In addition, she began taking classes in the University of Virginia English department, going on to earn her Master of Arts degree, having written her Master’s thesis on the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

Joey enjoyed being able to travel all over the world with Mort. Some of their favorite places included the California Bay Area, Italy, France, and Maine. They also traveled to Cape Cod during the month of July for many summers, New Mexico, Greece, Poland, Scandinavia, England, the Netherlands, Canada, India, Germany, and Scotland.

Although they were concerned about their move, with their beloved Cavalier King Charles spaniel Winnie, from Charlottesville to Alexandria when they were in their mid-80s, Joey and Mort thrived at Goodwin House Alexandria, making many friends and enjoying being close to their grandchildren. In addition to their new friends, Joey maintained close friendships with many people from all the stages of her life.

During their last months, Joey and Mort were in separate rooms in the health care area of Goodwin House, but staff always knew if Mort’s or Joey’s room was empty, they would find the missing person in the other person’s room. Mort predeceased Joey by three months and one day, and she missed him terribly. She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Salgado (Tony), grandchildren Robert, Ted, and Elena, and seven nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make donations in Josephine’s memory to The Children’s Home Society of Virginia. https://chsva.org  PO Box 6266, Richmond, VA 23230.

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