Priscilla H. Roberts

Priscilla Herget Roberts, aged 88 years, passed peacefully on May 14, 2024 in the company of her husband Richard (Dick) at the Maris Grove retirement community in Glen Mills, PA.

Priscilla was born in Peoria, IL in 1935 to parents Roscoe Herget and Lilly Kendall Herget. She graduated from Peoria High School with the class of 1953. Pris furthered her education taking German language classes at Middlebury College and earned her bachelor’s degree in foreign language studies from Montana State University in 1957, where she was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

During a ship voyage to Europe, Pris met Dick Roberts, and a near daily correspondence began. With Dick living in Geneva pursuing a doctorate, Priscilla moved to Europe in 1958, settling in Vienna. While in Vienna, Pris became enamored with the city’s operas and plays, often finding theater ticket bargains. A holiday car tour through Yugoslavia with Dick led to an engagement and they were married in August 1959. Thus began nearly 65 years of love and devotion to each other, of shared discoveries.

Pris and Dick’s life adventures took them to all corners of the globe. From Geneva to Tunis, Cairo to San Salvador, and Morocco to Rwanda, the Roberts’ made each destination feel like home. Daughter Laura was born in the US in 1963 as was daughter Wendy several years later. Son Rhys was born in 1966 while the young family was living in Cairo. He sadly passed away two weeks later.

Although travel was a major part of the Roberts’ lives, Pris and Dick made sure to set up housekeeping. This included time in five states, including California, Massachusetts, and Colorado. While living in Massachusetts, Pris returned to school and earned a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from Simmons College then worked in a local school library. She continued to share her love of books and research while living in Denver, CO, volunteering at the Denver Public Library and spearheading the creation of a children’s playground with a lending library on site. She also took great pride in the environment, being championed as an environmentalist before the term existed. Pris and granddaughter Alexia would take daily walks along the creek and remove any trash and debris from the area, always leaving the space cleaner for all to enjoy.

Priscilla’s love of history, research, and archival skills thrived during her years in Morocco, where she worked with the library and private collections of the US ambassador at his residence. Pris also accepted an invitation to become a board member of the Tangier American Legation Museum Society (TALMS). There, she obtained a grant and helped organize its collections into a research library.

Her time with TALMS led to two publications focused on Thomas Barclay, the first US consul abroad. The first, “Adam Hoops, Thomas Barclay, and the House Known as Summerseat, 1764-1791” was co-written with diplomat James Tull and published by the American Philosophical Society. A second book, Thomas Barclay (1728-1793): Consul in France, Diplomat in Barbary (Lehigh University Press), saw Pris and Dick unite to research, write, and complete the passion project started many years earlier.

Priscilla is predeceased by her parents Roscoe and Lilly Herget, her sisters Jacqueline Herget and Martha Herget Straus, and her son Rhys Herget Roberts. In addition to her husband Dick Roberts of Glen Mills, PA, she is survived by her daughters Laura Roberts of Glen Mills, PA and Wendy Zambalas (Zacharie) of Gif-sur-Yvette, France; granddaughter Alexia Zambalas of Denver, CO; grandson Luca Zambalas of Paris, France; and brother Roscoe Herget Jr. of Toulon, IL.

Priscilla H. Roberts is also survived by her tremendous legacy in research and education. The Associate Director of TALMS wrote to Dick, “Priscilla provided instructional and research support – her contributions to the research library are immeasurable. Generous and brilliant, she was admired and beloved for her amiability.” Kate Ohno, Associate Editor of the Benjamin Franklin Collection at Yale University, exchanged letters regularly with Pris, about whom she wrote: “She was intelligent and insightful and kind. Her research skills were without peer, and she was so careful and analytical. I know that her scholarship will stand for a very long time.” She will be greatly missed.