Atchley Funeral Home - Sevierville
Dr. Morris Waddell Roberts, age 88 of Acworth, GA, passed away Saturday, April 22, 2023, at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Knoxville, TN.
Dr. Roberts was born to parents James Preston Waddell Roberts and Giula Shannon on June 14, 1934 in Meridian, MS and grew up in Tennessee, Texas, and New Mexico. His father was a Methodist preacher and Air Force chaplain who lost his life in the Korean War. Dr. Roberts met his wife Emma Ruth Kilgore in Tracy City, TN in the second grade. They were married for 66 years.
He received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Tennessee Polytechnic Institute in Cookeville, TN, pursued advanced studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, and completed his Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Roberts was a pioneer in computer science and was hired as a full professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta and helped establish the Computer Science Department. He later founded the Information Systems Department at Kennesaw State University and served as Department Chair.
While growing up, Dr. Roberts enjoyed hiking in the Fiery Gizzard Gulf in Tracy City, TN. He loved classical music, musicals, and the whimsical tunes of Leroy Anderson. He was an accomplished photographer. He passed on his love of music and the outdoors to his children and shared his passion for computer programming. He never lost his sense of adventure. In his mid-eighties, he and his wife drove cross country from Tennessee to the Pacific Coast.
Dr. Roberts is survived by his wife Ruth K. Roberts, daughters Diana Carol Roberts and Karen Dawn Roberts, and grandchildren Lydia Page Myers and Kenneth (Kent) Waddell Myers. Dr. Roberts is also survived by his brother David Andrew Roberts (Jeanette Medlock), Sherry Roberts Rygmyr and family, and close relatives in Mississippi.
Donations are requested to Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta, GA and the Tellus Museum in Cartersville, GA.
A memorial service will be held at a later date in Tracy City, TN. Online condolences may be made at www.atchleyfuneralhome.com.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Memoriams
http://www.ajc.com
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