Obituary of Donald James Roberts

Donald James Roberts, 76 of Mountainville, NJ died peacefully at his home with his wife Cathy by his side on Tuesday, November 20th. He accepted his illness with strength and dignity. He was an inspiration to those around him. Donald was born in Bromley, Kent, England, on September 18, 1936. Don grew up in Bromley until his father James joined the army. He then spent his early years living in Dulwich, London with his grandparents, mother Doris and sister Diane. During the war they spent many nights sheltering in the cellar from the Nazi air raids. When the raids became too intense the family moved to the countryside, finally arriving at "The Old Post Office" in Long Marston near Stratford on Avon. Don moved back to London to finish his education before beginning a career in the Tea Trade. After a few years working in London, Don accepted a position with a London based trading company at their office in Colombo, Ceylon. During Don's tenure in Ceylon, he met his first wife Nancy Mahoney who was working for the US Government's State Department. After spending four years in Ceylon, Don moved to Canada to join a tea packing company, Salada Tea. He started work for Salada in Montreal and before leaving Canada, Don married Nancy and moved to Boston where their two daughters were born in Winchester, MA. Having always been interested in sales and marketing Don finally joined a tea importing company on Wall Street. Don spent the next five years with them before being hired to start a new operation to trade instant tea and regular tea for one of the largest tea producers in the world, James Finlay & Company. Don opened the office in New Jersey and had responsibility for the USA and Canadian Markets. After a few years, Don became President. The company became a major importer of tea from around the world. At the same time Don's interest in instant tea had taken the company into the forefront of instant tea marketing. Being associated with many of the initial ready to drink tea brands, Don also built a relationship with one of the major coffee manufacturers in Chile, who eventually became a major producer of instant tea. During his time in the tea industry Don became a Director of the Tea Association and Tea Council. Retiring after 40 years in the tea industry and many thousands of miles of international travel, Don settled down in Mountainville, New Jersey to enjoy his retirement years with his new wife Cathy, whom he adored. They shared many interests such as antiquing, decorating and gardening. They spent their winters at their vacation home in Vero Beach, Florida. Don shared many special times with his daughters, his grandchildren as well as his many close friends. He enjoyed playing golf, which was his passion, and was a long time member of the Morris County Golf Club in Morristown, New Jersey and the Bent Pine Golf Club in Vero Beach, Florida. He is survived by his wife of 12 years, Catherine Roberts, his daughters Julia Scharf (Paul) Charlotte, North Carolina and Jennifer Clements (Raymond) of Newburyport, MA, stepdaughter Michele Daley and his grandchildren, Jack and Brad Scharf, Tyler Clements and Morgan Daley. Also by his favorite brother in law John Green (Shirley) of Northam Devon, England and nephew Richard Green (Nadia) and niece Debra Emerson (Mark) in London, England. Don was loved very much by his family and all who knew him. He touched many people's hearts and formed many close and lifelong friendships. He will be deeply missed by his family and friends. There will be a Memorial Service to honor and celebrate Don's life on January 12, 2013 at 2:00pm at the Lamington Presbyterian Church, 300 Lamington Rd., Bedminster, NJ 07921. (Tel. 908-572-7013)