Roberta Lundy Headley

Roberta (Robbie) Lundy Headley, age 85, of Wilmington, Delaware, formerly of Summit, New Jersey, died on October 21, 2026 at the inpatient hospice unit of Christiana Hospital. Having developed Alzheimer’s disease, she lived in Memory Care at the Summit Retirement Community in Hockessin, DE for the past three years.

Roberta’s husband, William (Bill) E. Headley predeceased her by two years. Her surviving relatives include three children: Diana Headley Saunders of Wilmington, DE (husband Chris Malmstrom); Robert Headley of Seattle, Washington (wife Natalie He); and Jon Headley of Pasadena, CA (wife Wende Headley), and seven grandchildren: Jessica and Fiona Saunders, Tyler and Sofia Headley, and Matt, Chris, and Jackson Headley.

As Roberta was growing up, her family lived in a number of different places, both in the U.S. as well as in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Mexico City, Mexico. Her Dad, Howard Winston Lundy, had a Ph.D. in bacteriology. Although Roberta’s Mom, Frances Gill Lundy, was one of a handful of women who majored in chemistry in college in the 1930’s, she never used her chemistry degree. She supported her husband and children while Howard worked to earn his Ph.D., and then while he took on a series of jobs in public health.

Roberta’s Dad Howard’s first job, in 1945, was in Seattle, Washington where he was Head of the State Health Education Division. In 1949, when Roberta was eight years old, he took a job as Health Education Consultant with the United States Public Health Service, which meant moving the family first to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for 3 ½ years, followed by Mexico City, Mexico for 1 ½ years. His work trips took him to remote locations in both countries, where he worked to improve healthcare for indigenous peoples.

Roberta and her sisters, Barb and Sylvia, had many fond memories of living in these countries, including learning Portuguese and Spanish, going to the American schools, traveling to new places, and owning many pets, including a pet monkey.

By 1955, Roberta’s family returned to the U.S. so her father could start a new job as Scientific Director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association of America. They moved to New Jersey and his job was in New York City. Within less than a month, he had a heart attack in his office and died. Roberta’s Mom Frances then got a job as Registrar at Douglass College, the women’s division of Rutgers University, and Roberta attended Douglass College, graduating in 1963 and majoring in psychology.

In the spring of 1963, Roberta met her husband William (Bill) Headley, who was attending Princeton graduate school. In 1965, he decided to take a job teaching physics and math at Kent Place School in Summit, New Jersey. Roberta began teaching kindergarten in 1972, eventually becoming Director of the Kindergarten. The family lived in faculty housing on the school campus for the entirety of Roberta’s teaching career. Roberta was the first faculty member at Kent Place School to win an award that allowed her to pursue professional development abroad. She traveled to England to attend a program at Oxford University, and then spent a week with the head of an “infant school” in the area (ages 4 – 7 years old). After thirty-three years, Roberta retired from teaching.

Roberta and her husband Bill moved to Wilmington, DE in 2006. She was active at UUSMC, the Unitarian Universalist Society of Mill Creek, singing in the choir, serving as secretary of the Social Justice Committee, teaching Religious Education, and participating in a Chalice Circle. She also took classes at the OSHER Center for Lifelong Learning (now OLLI). One of her favorite things to do in her spare time was oil painting. She especially loved to paint landscapes, and completed a number of paintings depicting places both she and others had visited.

Roberta was passionate about reading and helping others read, and she decided to volunteer with the Literacy Volunteers Serving Adults (LVSA), now called Literacy Delaware, Inc. Over her ten years with LVSA, she tutored adult students from other countries in basic reading and writing, and helped five of her students successfully achieve U.S. citizenship. She received a Distinguished Volunteer Award, presented to her by then Governor of Delaware Jack Markell, for her outstanding commitment to adult literacy.

And now a message from her children: We love you Mom, and will always be thankful for everything that you did for us, and for the love that you showed us throughout our lives.

Roberta’s celebration of life service will be on Saturday, December 12th, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. at UUSMC (Unitarian Universalist Society of Mill Creek). The address is 579 Polly Drummond Hill Road; Newark, DE  19711.

Thanks goes out to Accent Care Inpatient Hospice at Christiana Hospital, Comfort Keepers, Home Instead, and to the administration and staff at the Summit Retirement Community for the care and compassion that they showed Roberta in her last years.

If you wish to make a donation in Roberta’s name, please consider donating to one or more of the following organizations: UUSMC (Unitarian Universalist Society of Mill Creek) https://www.uusmc.org/donate or Literacy Delaware, Inc. https://literacydelaware.org/donate .