Mary T. Roberti (Roberty) - Faculty/Staff

Oct. 21, 1933-Sept. 11, 2019

Mary T. Roberti was laid to rest Saturday, September 21, 2019. She passed away on September 11, 2019 at Peak Home Health Care in Scottsdale, AZ, after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. As Mary wished she was buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Monroe, MI with no wake or funeral service.

Born Oct. 21, 1933, in St. Mary’s, PA, she was the daughter of Alfonso & Antonietta Roberty, both of Italy.

Mary lived in Curwensville, PA from 1939- 1947 until her family moved to Monroe, MI, to open up opportunities for the children’s education.

She graduated from St. Mary’s Academy in Monroe in 1951, at the head of her class and from Marygrove College, Detroit, in 1958 with a B.A. in Latin magna cum laude.

She received a Rotary Foundation fellowship to continue Latin studies at the University of Rome, Italy, in 1960/61, sponsored by the Monroe Rotary Club. She received an M. A. in Latin from the University of Michigan in 1964 and the Ph. D. degree in Comparative Literature ( Latin, English & Italian) from the U. of M. in 1972.

Mary taught for the Monroe Public Schools, beginning in 1958 at Cantrick Jr. High School, teaching English and history. In 1965 she went to UM full-time to study for the doctorate, returning to Cantrick in 1967 to teach English & French.

In 1970 she transferred to Monroe High School, where she taught composition, Mythology and Bible as literature. In 1988 she left the Monroe Schools to become the Chair of Humanities/ Social Studies Division at Monroe County Community College.

In 1992 she resigned as Chair to return to the classroom full- time, teaching Composition, Poetry & Drama and pre- teaching classes at MCCCC. At MCCC she was nominated by her students to America’s Best Teachers.

She taught Italian in Monroe for Monroe County Senior Adult Education, hosting a year- long series ( 199394) for WTOL, Channel 13 television. Apropos of teaching Italian, she had changed her surname to its original spelling in a symbolic gesture. She retired in June of 1995, moving to Phoenix, AZ for its favorable climate and prompted by the fact that several of her Marygrove classmates were residing in Phoenix.

While in Monroe she was a member of St. John’s Catholic Church, where she had been the first lay teacher during the 1954- 55 school year. She Married Milan A. Bradac of Windsor, Ontario, August 29, 1977. He dies September 25, 1991. Plagued with bouts of depression after his death, she became aware of the pervasiveness of the condition at a time when society was just beginning to discuss such mental issues openly.

In Phoenix she married Giuseppe Pace in 2008. During the retirement in Phoenix she taught Italian, beginning in 1995, with the downtown Phoenix Oasis Program and afterwards with the City of Scottsdale Sr. Citizens program. She and Prof. Pace team taught (her favorite teaching method) Italian until 2007. He passed away on November 20, 2008.

Both Dr. Roberti and Prof. Pace were dedicated to making the study of languages accessible to as many students as possible, both as a means of dispelling prejudices and to promote the benefits of multi- culturalism through the treasures of literature. In Phoenix, she was a member of St. Theresa Parish, where she spent several years as Lector.

In December 2010, she moved back to Monroe, staying at Norman Towers and intending to “ go home again,” but moved back to her townhouse in central Phoenix in April of 2011, unable to adjust to the change in climate.

An avid traveler in her younger years, she went to Europe many times, where she had many relatives in Italy, her parents having both been immigrants to the United States from the region of Molise, and where most of her cousins still reside.

She has one brother, Nicholas R. Roberty and two nephews, Ted and Tracy, all of Monroe.

Those wishing to make a memorial in Mary’s honor are asked to consider the Parkinson’s Foundation.