Tey Roberts

Tey Roberts
June 2, 1939 ~ March 1, 2010

Bristlecone Pines
~for Tey, on our 44th wedding anniversary~

We are going to walk among the ancient ones
high in the mountains where patience breeds beauty.
What storms their twisted bodies have seen,
what heat and cold, wind gusts and frigid night silenceÑ
like us, survivors, our roots reaching,
touching beneath the surface.

CARMEL HIGHLANDS - At home, in the presence of family and friends, Tey Roberts left this life on March 1, 2010. She left, as she had desired, before the ALS from which she suffered could run its full course.
Tey hiked the Himalayas in Nepal, the Blue Mountains of Australia, El Parque Nacional Torres del Paine in Patagonia, the hills of Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, the Masai Mara in Kenya, Kilauea Crater in Hawai'i, and, closer to home, in Yosemite, Pinnacles, Point Lobos, the Bristlecone pine forests of the White Mountains, Death Valley, the Olympics, the Trinity Alps, Chaco CanyonÉ.
A long-time member of the Monterey Bay Zen Center, she took her Buddhist vows in 1993 when she was given her Buddhist name, Myo Tei / Ei Shu (Inconceivable Cauldron / Endless Effort). The day before her passing, she was given Lay Entrustment by her teacher, Katherine Thanas. A long-time member of the Center's Board of Directors, Tey served as Vice President, Treasurer, and Ino.
Tey filled her garden with Australian protea, leucadendron, ribes sanguineum, phormium, clematis, passion vine, ornamental grasses, and assorted annuals.
With her neighbors in the Carmel Highlands, she formed an ad hoc political action group which held vigils by Highway 1 protesting such events as the war in Iraq or supporting universal health care and the campaign of Barack Obama.
As a photographer, she documented special events in the lives of her friends, neighbors and Sangha. Her photographs fill many family albums.
Born Mary Sussman in New York City, Tey grew up in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, attended Little Red School House, Bronx High School of Science, Cornell University, and Miami University (Ohio) from which she received her B.A. She graduated from Monterey College of Law in 1986, and was admitted to the California State Bar after passing the Bar exam in 1988; she practiced law for a number of years.
She is survived by her husband of 50 years Elliot; her children, Bari (Michael Gaines) of Corral de Tierra, Lisa Arvin (Wes) of Davis, and Michael (Susan) of Antioch; her grandchildren, Don Reniff of Antioch, Bryan Reniff of Bellingham, WA, Matthew and Toby of Antioch, Jacque, Julianna and Jed Arvin of Davis; her sister, Ruth McDiarmid of Washington, D.C.; her niece, Jennifer McDiarmid (David Sterling) of Boulder, CO and her nephew, Alex McDiarmid (Tatiana) of Washington, D.C.; her sister-in-law, Kathy Roberts; nieces, Jennifer Rubin (Beno) and Shannon Hood (Bryan); nephews, Chris (Shawnea) and Kiley (Sharalee), all of Virginia Beach, VA; and niece, Kim Greenman (Peter) of New York City.
The family wishes to thank the following for their loving support and care during Tey's illness: Dr. Walter Holz, Dr. Alejandro Centurion, the caregivers from the Central Coast Visiting Nurse Association and CHOMP Hospice of the Central Coast, the ALS Association, and especially her many friends who filled her home with their love and gratefulness for Tey's having been a part of their lives.
A celebration of her life will be held at a later date. She walks among the ancient ones.