Obituary of John Roberts

John Edward Roberts, a true Colorado Native, Lambkin, and Colorado Buff, was born April 23, 1942 at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins. John died peacefully on May 6, 2023 at Pathways Hospice after a very short battle with pancreatic cancer. John holds both a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Studies from the University of Colorado in Boulder, and a Master of Arts in Regional Planning and Rural Development from Cornell University in New York. John celebrated more than six decades of dedication to education, international affairs, and intercultural cooperation as a retired United States Foreign Service Officer and Associate Professor for Colorado State University. In 1961, as a freshman at the University of Colorado studying international affairs, John had the opportunity to meet the newly-elected President John F. Kennedy, who had recently signed the Peace Corps into law. When Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, John decided to set aside his career path to law school to join the Peace Corp.  He served in Somalia, Africa before he began his career in international development by joining the United States Foreign Service.  He served proudly until 1998,  in nineteen different countries on six continents, earning a Superior Honor Award from the United States Department of State.  At the time of his death, John was serving on the Board of Trustees of the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado, The Board of Directors of the Fort Collins Symphony and was a founding member and director of the Global Village Museum of Arts and Culture. In 2012, John was named Rotarian of the Year by the Downtown Fort Collins Rotary Club.  He was also named a Worldly Buff by the University of Colorado.  He was instrumental in developing the early concept of the Peace Corp Tribute Garden at CSU. 

John Roberts is survived by daughter, Genevieve Lan Roberts of Albuquerque, New Mexico; son, Michael Bihn Roberts of Denver, Colorado; sister Jane A. Boulter (Jeff) of Fort Collins; partner Kathleen M. Batterton of Fort Collins; nephew, Bret Boulter of Sammamish, Washington; four grandchildren and one great-grand child.  John deeply cherished many friends from here and around the world. He will be greatly missed.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Global Village Museum of Arts and Culture, at https://globalvillagemuseum.org/product/donation/

Downtown Rotary Club at https://rotarycluboffortcollins.org/page/donate

Peace Corp Tribute Garden at CSU, at https://advancing.colostate.edu/peacecorps

or the Fort Collins Symphony, at https://fcsymphony.org//support/

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