Obituary: Roberta Scheller

May 23, 1932 – May 3, 2024

Roberta Scheller passed away peacefully in her sleep on Friday, May 3rd, 2024 in her home in Naples, Florida weeks before her 92nd birthday.
Roberta, known by her family and friends as Bert, was born in Greenwich, Connecticut on May 23rd, 1932. She was the first daughter of Leo and Helen Rosen. She spent her early life with her parents and younger sister Joan in New Canaan, Connecticut, graduating high school there.
After a short time at the University of Connecticut, Bert left for the bright lights of New York City to pursue her interest in fashion design, attending Parson’s School of Design. Upon graduation from Parson’s, she took a job with Vogue Magazine as an editor of pattern design, located at Conde Nast Corporation in Greenwich, Connecticut.
In February of 1954, Roberta met the love of her life, Ernest Scheller Jr. at square dance in Norwalk, Connecticut. They became engaged in June and married September 26th of that year at the Savoy-Plaza Hotel in New York City.
To supplement their income, Roberta baked cookies and cakes, which she sold at her mother’s grocery store. Early in their marriage, Roberta and Ernest left their small railroad style apartment in New Caanan to move into a new garden apartment in Stamford, Connecticut, where they made life-long friends with the other young couples living there.
Upon the birth of their first child, Ernest Scheller III, Roberta left Vogue to become a fulltime homemaker and mother. A few years later, the couple welcomed their second child, Lisa Jane Scheller.
The family settled down in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, where Ernest took over his father’s metallic pigment manufacturing company, Silberline. Roberta solved the challenge of moving the family from a suburban community to a rural one by getting the entire family involved in a new sport, and one that has been passed down 3 generations, skiing.
When her children left for college, Roberta returned to her own education in 1975, attending classes at Drexel University, but the commute and commitment as a fulltime homemaker forced Roberta to leave college before graduation. Roberta always had the dream of returning for her diploma. This dream became a reality, when, in 2012, a family friend heard about her Drexel education and wanted to see how many classes Roberta had left before graduation. Lo and behold, she had actually earned enough credits to graduate, and was awarded a Bachelor’s of Science from the Media & Arts school at Drexel. Rather than walk with her graduating class, Roberta was presented with her diploma at a special luncheon for her, hosted by the president of the university.
Roberta and her family spent many of their winters in Vail, Colorado, where she loved snow-shoeing and skiing. She and Ernest were active members of B’nai Vail and were committed to strengthening their Jewish roots and the interfaith community there.
Roberta was passionate about education and healthcare and endowed a Chair of Urologic Oncology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center at Temple University in 2019. She and Ernest exemplified the Jewish ideology of “Tikkun Olam,” and her impact and contributions can be seen across the world, from the Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech to Ben Gurion University, in Be’er Sheva, Israel.
Roberta was the vision of a matriarch, supporting her entire family and enriching the lives of those who were blessed to know her. Her compassion was evident immediately upon meeting her, and her smile lit up every room she graced. She will be deeply missed and is survived by her husband, Ernest, her daughter Lisa, and her two grandchildren, Zary & Leo, along with the many honorary members of her family, including her daughter-by-choice, Jill and children, Emily and Olivia.
Roberta’s funeral will be held in Vail, Colorado on June 26th, where she will be laid to rest with her son, Ernest III, who predeceased her. In lieu of flowers, the family humbly requests a donation to the charity of the donor’s choice.