Merle Dean Roberts, 88, passed away February 10, 2025 in Siloam Springs, Ark.
He was born in Liberal, KS, June 16, 1936 to Tom and Grace Roberts.
Merle spent his boyhood mowing for the family business, farming and working in the family business, Robert´s Machine Shop, as well as participating in sports and many school activities.
He graduated from Liberal High School in 1954, going on to Kansas State University where he graduated in 1960 with Bachelor of Science degrees in mechanical engineering and geology. That same year, he was employed by General Dynamics in Cheyenne, Wy. as a site installation support engineer installing Atlas missiles. He continued in the missile business working with the Nuclear Energy Rocket Development Station (NERDS) as a staff member of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) in 1963.
Merle married Susan Schutz February 18, 1961 at Old Mission Methodist Church in Fairway. They were happily married for 64 years
Still with the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, he was placed in the J-6 Support Group as a staff engineer in nuclear weapons testing at the Las Vegas Nuclear Test Site at Mercury, NV. He worked eleven years working in areas 3,7,9,12, and 18 in charge of post shot recovery, shock mounting buildings and shot locations – never though in Area 51!
He moved his family to Liberal in 1974, working at National Beef Packing Plant, Jayhawk Pipeline and Merle´s Roberts Machine Shop. He and Susan moved to Siloam Springs, Ark. in 2020 to be close to family.
Merle loved working on cars and anything to do with cars! He built his own hot rod out of parts he got at the junk yard in Liberal during his high school years. He was a master at fixing things, figuring out the best way to build anything or explain how something worked.
He was a member of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, a Patron Member, Benefactor Member and Millennium Honor Roll honoree of the National Rifle Association. For many years, he participated in donating time and energy in the churches he attended.
Merle is preceded in death by his grandmother, Emma Kruse; his parents; and brother, Thomas E. Roberts.
He is survived by his wife, Susan, of the home; his children: Richard Merle Roberts of Liberal, David Wayne Roberts and wife Lisa of Jeffersonville, Ind., Douglas Edward Roberts and wife Tosha of Tulsa, Okla., and Cheryl Kay Garcia and husband Benito of Siloam Springs, Ark.; grandchildren: Richard Merle Roberts Jr., Josh Roberts, Amber Vargas and spouse, Stacy, Sarah Roberts and partner, Christopher, Connor Roberts, and Bethany Garcia; and great-grandchildren: Bentley, Kayden, Dylan and Janiyah Roberts.
• Cremation has taken place.
Interment will be at a later date in Liberal.
Paid obituary
In coelo quies est.