David Rowland Roberts' Obituary
David Rowland Roberts, 89, of Spring Valley, California, passed away on Wednesday, November 20, 2019.David was born to Commander Norman Roberts (USN Medical Corps) and Dorothy Rowland Roberts on March 14, 1930, in Coronado, California. As a child, David lived in Annapolis, MD, and Honolulu, HI, but he was a resident of San Diego County for 85 years. He attended Grossmont High School and San Diego City College.David first met Emma Nelson, his future wife, at age thirteen when he walked across the street to show her his five-legged toad. They married in July 1950 and had two children.Professionally, David had three careers over the course of his life. From 1952 through 1986, he worked for the City of San Diego starting as a Nurseryman and ending as Deputy Park and Recreation Director. He was considered to be an innovative, out-of-the-box thinker and specialized in doing jobs that “couldn’t be done”. He was often willing to bend the sometimes restrictive policies when necessary to benefit the public.In 1958, David was assigned the task of preparing all the interior plantings for the reopening of the Botanical Building in Balboa Park which had been closed since World War II. With no funding provided for their purchase, he was able to secure plants from a variety of sources. He determined where individual plants should be placed, and some are still in the Botanical Building today. He hand-raised hundreds of special Easter lilies so that they would be in bloom for the Botanical Building’s opening day on Easter Sunday 1959.David either supervised or managed the landscaping of much of Mission Bay Park. He convinced the City Council to acquire the land for the Fanuel Street annex at the north end of Sail Bay for a community park. He was especially proud that the decision was made on a five-to-four vote with the deciding Councilman saying, “Mr. Roberts, I don’t know why it is important to add 2.2 acres to a 4,000-acre park, but if you say that it is, I will vote for it.”During the 1970’s and 1980’s, David was responsible for the redevelopment of much of the landscaping in Balboa Park, including the Rose Garden and the Desert Garden. He managed the landscaping, design, land acquisition and/or development of more than 100 neighborhood and community parks throughout the City. On an extremely tight timeline, David managed the original landscape development of the Community Concourse.David considered himself to be the “father” of Mission Trails Regional Park. He developed and vigorously promoted the concept of modifying a County proposal for a joint project with the City to develop a chain of medium-sized parks including Lake Murray, Cowles Mountain, Mission Gorge, and Fortuna Mountain into one massive unified regional park. He directed the master planning and suggested a feasible financial plan for the necessary land acquisition. He retired from the City before any development on the park began. David also served as a horticultural advisor to the San Diego Zoological Society and as a consultant to the New Sunset Western Garden Book.After his retirement from the City in 1986, David worked for a year as the Executive Director of the Japanese Friendship Garden Society. He helped the society refocus its efforts on the development of the garden, worked with the local Japanese community to revive interest in the project, suggested a plan for phased development, and assisted in raising funds.In 1987, David embarked on his third career as a business partner with his son, Steven. They opened a specialty automotive service center in San Marcos where David worked for 27 years. He developed the accounting systems for the business without the aid of computer software. When the shop area needed to be redesigned, he created the plans and served as prime contractor during the renovation.David was a “grower” throughout his life and used his curiosity and intellect as tools in the process of getting things done. He committed his life to growing people, organizations, parks, plants, and buildings. In remaining true to his faith, he actively served in churches on countless committees. He taught Sunday School, ran the Ton of Food Drive, co-chaired the Missions Commission, sponsored the youth group, and served on two work teams to Chile. At San Carlos United Methodist Church, he was selected for the Missions Award and was the coordinator and teacher of the Seekers Adult Bible Study. In the community, he served as a Cub Scout Pack Leader. He was a very generous man and loved giving gifts anonymously.David loved God, his family, plants, animals, good food, and travel. He overdid everything, never content to do anything partway. He had many different pets, some rather unusual—dogs, birds, snakes, rats, mice, frogs, newts, rabbits, guinea pigs, a monkey, a skunk. He built a small nursery behind his home. Together, he and Emma travelled to 36 countries and 48 states.David had a great sense of humor. He loved reading the newspaper comics and was constantly cracking jokes or making amusing comments about almost everything.David’s family is proud of and grateful for his commitment. He has been a great example to others by living a life of dedication and to making the world a better place.David is survived by his children, Lois Roberts DeKock of El Cajon, CA, and Steven Roberts (Linda) of Encinitas, CA; his grandson, Robert Luddy (Amanda) of Austin, TX; his great-grandchildren Emma, Caleb, and Danae Luddy.The celebration of David’s life will be held December 14, 2019, at 1:00 PM at San Carlos United Methodist Church.In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the San Diego Botanic Garden, SDBGarden.org/donate_form.html; or, the San Diego Center for the Blind, sdcb.org/donate-now.
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