Obituary of Roberta G DeVries

Roberta (Bert) DeVries, a longtime resident of Southampton, PA and  Ocean City, NJ, passed away on February 1, 2023, after a brief illness. 

Bert was born to Robert and Mable Grunert on August 19, 1935, and was  raised in Bradford, PA. 

Bert graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Family  Relationships from the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University,  where she met her future husband John DeVries. On graduation day in  June of 1957, John earned his diploma in Chemical Engineering and was  commissioned as Ensign in the United States Navy. Two months later, on  August 31, 1957, Bert and John were married. Following their wedding,  they lived in Newport, RI where John started his tour of duty with the US  Navy as Engineering Officer of the USS Turner. In 1957, Bert began her  twenty-year career in early childhood education as a kindergarten teacher.  After retiring from teaching, she began volunteering as a docent at the  Philadelphia Zoo. This led to a position as the Zoo’s Travel Planner and  Program Coordinator, allowing the opportunity for Bert to lead tours all  over the world. She was extremely passionate about the conservation of  animals and shared that passion with friends across the globe in her  travels, always coming back with new stories to share after each  adventure. Bert’s favorite destinations included India, Africa, and the  Galápagos Islands. 

Relationships meant everything to Bert, and she maintained a large and  much treasured circle of friends from all age groups and backgrounds.  Some friendships stretch back to her days at Bradford High School and  Cornell, while others developed more recently from her many varied  interests including duplicate bridge, mahjongg, and book club. Giving  back was incredibly important to Bert and that was evident in her  extensive volunteer roles at The Wetlands Institute, Friends of the Ocean  City Pops, The Ocean City Public Library, The Philadelphia Zoo, and  Cornell University. She held the title of Vice President for the Cornell Class  of 1957, serving for over 20 years as a key leader in the class’s campaign  fundraising and reunion efforts. A lover of the Arts, Bert also frequented  concerts and Broadway shows, often spontaneously befriending fellow  patrons while in line or during intermission. In addition, she was an avid  Philadelphia sports fan (E-A-G-L-E-S!), reminding everyone “Sundays are 

for the birds!” and making it a priority to catch the Phillies during Spring  Training in Clearwater, FL, where she spent time in the winter. 

Bert, a loving mother and grandmother, is survived by her sons, Robert  John (Christine), and Peter William, and grandchildren, Alexandria (Robert)  DeVries Greer, Taylor DeVries, Danielle DeVries, and Ryan DeVries.   

Bert was preceded in death by her husband John in 2014, and her close  companion Don Richardson in 2019. The family is planning a celebration  of life, which will be announced when a date is chosen. 

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that contributions be made in her  memory to: The Roberta Grunert DeVries ’57 Scholarship at Cornell  Human Ecology (P.O. Box 37334, Boone, IA 50037-0334) or to the John  and Roberta DeVries Research Fund of The Wetlands Institute  (www.wetlandsinstitute.org).