Cynthia E Roberts

Cynthia E. (Dullea) Roberts, 68, of Waterville Valley, NH, passed to the Lord on Sunday November 2, 2014, at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH surrounded by family and friends. She was the loving wife of Edward Roberts for 47 years.

Cindy was born on May 25, 1946, in Peabody, MA to Alice and Edward Dullea, the youngest of three children. Even in childhood, Cindy was quite the determined and fearless young lady-you had to be to decide at the age of 3 to walk out of the house with your dog to go to the party your older brothers had gone to even though you didn't know where it was (the friendly neighborhood cops helped re-direct her home). Yes, Cindy kept her guardian angel rather busy with incidents even her brothers probably didn't hear about, which made for a wonderful and happy childhood.

She attended St. Thomas Aquinas school in Peabody-Salem and graduated at the top of her class as valedictorian at Bishop Fenwick High School. At Emmanuel College she majored in Physics. While at Emmanuel, she attended an MIT mixer where she met Edward Roberts. She was quite taken from the get-go-who wouldn't be since he looked like Jack Kennedy (her words). Then again, she was a stunner herself. As it turned out, they were very well suited to each other and were married for 47 years.

Marriage and family life were a great adventure, taking Cindy to Mexico, Canada, Argentina, and back to the U.S. not to mention vacation trips (Disneyworld was a highlight even though the passports almost got lost on the way to the airport), cruises to multiple locations, and escapes to Mazatlan. There were many challenges throughout-having 8 children would guarantee that-but also much fun. Cindy knew early on that her children had also been blessed with very vigilant guardian angels. As a toddler, her eldest daughter, Angela, was known to take off and never look back. One day, Cindy was preparing to cross a very busy street and while she was managing Tina in the carriage, Angela wriggled her hand free and started running across the 4-lane road with a bus barreling down. Cindy screamed her name and tried to catch up to her, and to her great surprise and vast relief Angela suddenly stopped, for no apparent reason, and the bus drove by in front of her. Cindy knew Angela's guardian angel was looking over her shoulder.

When the grandkids began to arrive, she was known as "Nana the baby-whisperer". She traveled to California, Colorado, Virginia, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, Buenos Aires and Rhode Island to be one of the first to greet her grandchildren to the world. All of them have a special crocheted blanket from Nana that most of them still use today. As the kids got older, they could always count on her for extra sweet snacks - a bowl of ice cream or blueberries topped with a healthy dose of sugar. They learned very quickly who to ask for an afternoon snack when they came to visit!

Cindy was a woman of deep faith and this faith guided and sustained her through the ups and downs of life. She tried her best and hardest to instill this faith in her children and never gave up on the hope that they would all one day understand its importance and embrace it as she did.

By far her greatest challenge came after she suffered a stroke at 61 that left her with limited use of her right arm and leg. This might have been too much for many people, but Cindy never complained about her hardship and showed her true strength as she adjusted her life and routine. There would be no more skiing or golfing, but there were still trips, there was still croquet (even one handed you wanted her on your team) and cards and puzzles, and there was more reason and opportunity to boss her children around to get her garden tended, her pictures sorted, her buttons sown, and any other job she could not quite do herself.

In addition to her husband, Cindy is survived by her eight children: Angela Amor and her husband Patrick from Menlo Park, CA, Cristina Doucette and her husband James from Ashland, MA, Amanda Roberts from Haverhill, MA, Eduardo Roberts and his wife Ana from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Cynthia Blouch and her husband Brent from Avon, OH, Alicia Hawk and her husband Kent from Mercersburg, PA, Andrea Roberts from Denver, CO, and Michael Roberts and his wife Kelli from Tiverton, RI, her grandchildren Teresa, Annika, Brianna, Iain, Ivan, Azul, Matt, Kate, Ali, Walter, Jonas, Clara, Alex, Martin, Athena, and Ronan, her brothers Edward Dullea and his wife Priscilla from Georgetown, MA and Leonard Dullea and his wife Martha from Peabody, MA, and her childhood friend Maureen Beers and her husband Wayne from McLean, VA.