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2001 SESSION

014505612
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 520
Offered January 10, 2001
Prefiled December 6, 2000
On the death of the Reverend Spencer M. Roberts.
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Patrons-- Armstrong; Senator: Reynolds
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WHEREAS, Spencer M. Roberts of Martinsville, a former pastor, community leader, and political activist, died on October 5, 2000; and

WHEREAS, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Spencer Roberts graduated from Virginia Union University in 1977 and served as pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Richmond; and

WHEREAS, following five years of service as assistant director of student affairs at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and as pastor of a church in Missouri, Spencer Roberts returned to Virginia; and

WHEREAS, as pastor of the Fayette Street Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, in Martinsville, Reverend Roberts was a highly visible and widely respected civic leader; and

WHEREAS, while serving as president of the Martinsville-Henry County Ministerial Association, Reverend Roberts joined other community leaders in successfully opposing the placement of an off-track betting parlor in Martinsville; and

WHEREAS, believing that the gambling facility would have a negative impact on the community, especially its disadvantaged residents, Reverend Roberts took a firm stand and defended it vigorously, leading Martinsville’s voters to reject the off-track betting referendum; and

WHEREAS, a man of multiple talents and great devotion to his parishioners, Reverend Spencer Roberts will be missed by the residents of Martinsville and Henry County; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly note with great sadness the passing of an invaluable citizen of the Commonwealth, the Reverend Spencer M. Roberts; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of the Reverend Spencer M. Roberts as an expression of the esteem in which his memory is held by the members of the General Assembly.