Betty Colleen Roberts

Betty Colleen Roberts
January 27, 1939 – July 25, 2020

Betty Colleen (Hargis) Roberts died peacefully at Trinity Memorial Hospital near Tampa Bay, Florida. She had complications from chronic bronchitis.

Due to the current pandemic, no services were held. Betty was buried with a few family and friends present on Monday, August 3rd at Roselawn Memorial Park of LaSalle Michigan. She was laid to rest next to her husband, Elmer Roberts who preceded her in death in 1998.

Betty was born in Monroe, Michigan on January 27th, 1939. She lived most of her life in Monroe. She graduated from Monroe High and after graduation immediately began a career in the banking business. She began her career with First National Bank of Monroe. She remained in the banking business for twenty-five years. During the time she was working in her banking career she also helped her husband in the family security business after his career as a Detective with the Monroe City Police Department.

Eventually that family business became three companies, Roberts Security and Investigations, Inc., whose clients included the Fermi Nuclear plant, La-Z-Boy and Mercy Memorial Hospital. Along with the Roberts Security Company, the family also created Can-Am Security and the Roberts Uniforms store. After her husband Elmer died, Betty and her daughter Gail ran the businesses before the sale of the company in 2006.

While living in Monroe, Betty was highly active in the Monroe Missionary Baptist Church, where she traveled on a few the church’s missions across the world. Over the years she had visited several countries including Australia, Ecuador, Egypt, and Israel.

In 2014 Betty moved to Palm Harbor, Florida to live with her daughter Gail (Roberts) Williams and son-in -law Clark Williams. She became an adopted part of the extended Williams family and attended several of the Williams family gatherings over the years.

Betty embraced the Florida lifestyle in her new home in Palm Harbor, Florida. She became a noticeable personality in the area where everyone that knew her, loved her. Each day she could be seen all dressed up and riding in her convertible, riding her bike or walking the family dog, Pepper. When Betty passed there was an overwhelming response by the neighborhood for the loss. She was affectionately known to everyone as “Miss Betty”.

She was also active in the church community in Palm Harbor as a member of the Berea Baptist Church. She fully enjoyed life, boating and fishing, as well as playing the piano, daily shopping, crossword puzzles and sitting on the dock watching all the birds and fish of the Gulf of Mexico. She was a very charitable donor to a number of organizations, but her favorite was the Humane Society.

Betty was preceded in her death by her husband, Elmer Roberts, her parents Oscar and Opal Hargis and her brother Donald Hargis. She is survived by her sister, Margaret Yoakum of Monroe, sister-in-law Marlene (Stein) Hargis of Monroe, two nieces, Pam (Hank) Runyon of Carleton, Michigan and Vickie (James) Trombley of Mio, Michigan, her daughter Gail (Roberts) Williams and son-in-law Clark Williams of Palm Harbor, Florida.

During this terrible time, arrangements are more difficult. The family would first like to thank her doctor, Dr. Jordan Young and the nurses of Trinity Hospital who tried so hard to save her. For final travels, we would like to thank Dobies Funeral Home of Tarpon Springs, Florida, Rupp Funeral Home of Monroe, Michigan and Roselawn Memorial Park of LaSalle, Michigan.

As a final request by Miss Betty, any memorial donations should be made to the Humane Society.