March 8, 2021
Education & Empowerment: The Vision of Edward K. Roberts
Categories: Donor Story,
Editor's Note: As charitable giving continues to define our region’s growth and spirit, we will be sharing stories of our remarkable donors, past and present, who have entrusted us with their hopes, dreams, and visions for a better future. These individuals believed in the power of giving to others to strengthen our community with their gifts, both during their lifetimes and in the future. This story is dedicated to the memory of Edward K. Roberts, who believed everyone deserves a decent start in life and made it his mission to better lives through education.
Edward K. Roberts was born in Cook County, Illinois, in 1920. After his father passed at a young age, Roberts was raised solely by his mother, Kathryn Smith Roberts—an upbringing that would have a significant impact on his charitable giving later in life.
Roberts attended Northwestern University, including a year and half of law school, before serving in the Army during World War II. Although he would briefly work as a corporate attorney after the war, his real passion lay in trading. He described himself as self-taught commodities trader, a title that would follow him to Lehman Brothers and the Chicago Board of Trade. He would conduct all his trades himself, calling them in without a computer or cell phone—as Roberts would say, the “old-fashioned way.”
Throughout his life, Roberts was an avid tennis player and musician, playing the trumpet, French horn, and piano and dabbling in the violin, and he enjoyed a full range of music, from classical to boogie woogie. He had two grand pianos, one at his home in Sarasota and the other in Asheville, North Carolina. He would later donate one to State College of Florida after playing on stage at the college's Neel Performing Arts Center.
Edward K. Roberts (1920-2009) believed that everyone deserves a decent start in life and always wanted to help others earn a college degree.
Always described as a “gracious man,” Roberts had a reputation for his impeccable manners and simple lifestyle. He was genuinely interested in the stories of other people, particularly those who had to make their own way in the world despite difficult circumstances. He believed everyone deserves a decent start in life.
Roberts' legacy with the Community Foundation reflects his values and life story. He established a field of interest fund—the Edward K. Roberts Community College Fund—to support underfunded community colleges in Florida and also created funds to address new and emerging charitable needs and (as a nod to his mother, Kathryn) to help single mothers.
Overall, Roberts' funds have awarded 172 grants totaling nearly $16 million to address the needs of single mothers in our community and 79 grants totaling $4 million to boost underfunded community colleges around the state. Other organizations and programs that have been helped through Roberts' giving include Family Promise of South Sarasota County, Suncoast Technical College, Forty Carrots Family Center, and The Aspen Institute.
Although he would never meet with his grant or scholarship recipients, he was always curious about what the recipients were doing and loved when the Community Foundation told him we were awarding several scholarships at a time. He always wanted to help others earn a college degree.
His memory lives on in his niece Lora and her brother Paul.
Read more stories from charitable individuals and families, both past and present.
Discover how you can Be The One to build the community you know to be possible.