P. Lorraine Roberts

1945 - 2020

P. Lorraine Roberts died surrounded by her family on December 10, 2020. She was born in Oneida, New York on January 14, 1945, the first and only daughter of Harvey and Marie Honsinger of Hamilton, New York. Her young years were spent both on her family farm near Eaton, New York, where her father had a passion for horses, and her mother's farm near DeValls Bluff, Arkansas.
After two years of college, she worked as the Secretary to the Dean of Students at Colgate University, followed by Administrative Positions at both General Electric (Columbia, Maryland) and Singer-Link Division (Silver Springs, Maryland). She then moved to Florida to marry her husband (Richard E. Roberts) and become the Assistant Medical Records Librarian for the Martin County Medical Hospital, eventually operating her own business doing medical transcription, coding and correspondence. She also served in 1982 and 1983 as Assistant Manager for Blowing Rocks Preserve.
Lorraine was a force beyond words in her honesty, convictions and physical abilities. She used her skills growing up on a farm to assist her husband (District and Park Biologist for the Florida Park Service) to survey plants, capture, mark and release reptiles and small mammals.
She was an adept writer and editor, assisting her husband in research and writing over 70 published peer reviewed scientific manuscripts. She was one of the authors of the 2017 publication, Tropical Hammocks of Florida: A historical and contemporary perspective (Florida Scientist) as well as the 2018 Loxahatchee River History Collections of News Articles from 1961-2017 (Loxahatchee River Historical Society).
She volunteered much of her time assisting with wildlife rehabilitation and record keeping at the Treasure Coast Audubon Wildlife Hospital. When the proposed Hobe Sound Plantation Development threatened to forever change the ecosystem on the boundary of Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Lorraine gathered several like-minded conservationists and fought the project for three years. They galvanized the media and public, exciting local citizens to force the proposed project to withdraw, which included a final public hearing in Hobe Sound that was attended by over 800 people. For this effort, she was presented the 1992 Jonathan Dickinson State Park Interpretive Association Conservation Award.
For most of her time in Florida Lorraine was active in the martial arts, obtaining the status of a Black Belt Instructor in Hapkido and Tae Kwon Do which showed her power, discipline and endurance. As she got older, she continued her martial arts training with Tai Chi Chuan.
She is survived by her husband, Richard, and a daughter, Elizabeth and her husband, Randy Hatten. At a later date, a Celebration of her Life will be held along the Loxahatchee National Wild and Scenic River.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that a donation to Earthjustice (earthjustice.org) or Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org) be made in Lorraine's memory. We are especially grateful for her end of life assistance provided by Treasure Coast Hospice.