Age 56 of Philadelphia, lost his years of battle with multiple myeloma on June 15, 2017.
He is survived by his mother Joan (Grossman) Roberts; his sisters Judith Soslowsky (Lou) and Margot Sweed (Bob); his niece and nephews, Rebecca and Daniel Soslowsky and Jacob and Ross Sweed. He was preceded in death by his father Jay Morton Roberts.
Joshua worked as an institutional research and assessment analyst at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University. He graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature/ Letters. He received his Master of Science from Drexel Univer-sity in 1997.
Joshua also was a published author of fiction. The following are some of his stories that are presently online:
"Never Happier," essay, Apiary Magazine, 2015.
"Le Voyage dans la Lune," poem, Alabama Literary Review, 2012 (Vol. 21,1).
"The Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role"
"Well Liked," included in Philly Fiction 2, an anthology of Philadelphia-centric stories, published in 2009.
"Revolver," AGNI 61
"Cripple," Pindeldyboz
"Races Conducted While Downloading Two or More Files Simultaneously from Napster in its Waning Days," Eyeshot.
Joshua's own website was meant to promote a book as yet incomplete, namely Marrow Me, a memoir of his life with multiple myeloma.
Joshua achieved scuba diving certification and enjoyed dives in the Bahamas and Aruba. He travelled extensively in Vietnam, France, Budapest, Japan and Turks and Caicos.
Joshua supported the following charities:
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation -themmrf.org
International Myeloma Foundation -myeloma.org
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association, Kempton, PA 19529- hawkmountain.org
We would like to thank Dr. Stadtmauer and Patricia Mangan CRNP at HUP for helping to extend Joshua's caring, thoughtful, giving and loving life with us. Arrangements are private.

www.cavanaghfuneralhome.com

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Philadelphia Inquirer/Philadelphia Daily News on Jun. 18, 2017.

Memories and Condolences
for JOSHUA ROBERTS

Sponsored by Cavanagh-Patterson Family Funeral Home- Media.

28 Entries

Steve Cohen

June 9, 2025

Josh and I went to Gratz together
He was a great guy and he never
failed to make me laugh.

Steven R Cohen

June 9, 2021

My name is Steve Cohen.Josh and I shared a short but sweet time together on our bus rides to Gratz Hebrew High.
He was always able to make me laugh and brighten my day.
We lost touch over the years,as many people do,but I will always cherish are memories.Josh was a great guy abd I will always remember him.

Steve Cohen

September 1, 2018

Josh and I went to Gratz Hebrew High together for a short while many years ago.I will never forget his incredible wit and his great sense of humor.He always made me laugh and always lightened the mood.He will definitely be missed.

Philip Crew

January 9, 2018

My thoughts and prayers are with the Roberts Family for your loss. Josh and I were on Buchanan 3 freshman year at F&M. Will never forget him.

Nina Millman

July 16, 2017

Deepest condolences to Joshua's family. Your former neighbor, Nina Millman

So very sorry for your loss... to the whole family Mike and Sarah Nathan

Sarah Nathan

June 22, 2017

So very sorry for your loss... to the whole family
Mike and Sarah Nathan

Linda Gustafson

June 19, 2017

I'm glad for our visits since F&M. Until our next one! Say hi to Gordon for me please. Tell him we're doing Sharkespeare, The Water Ballet. I hope you both will be watching!

bebe kivitz

June 19, 2017

Joan and all, we are so very sorry to hear about Josh. Our deepest sympathies are with you at this time. Bebe and Jay

Phil Falkowitz

June 19, 2017

I too am saddened to hear Josh is no longer with us. In his quiet ways he help bring new ideas to our support group.
When necessary he was outspoken and strong. Good qualities. Through his written word his sense of humor and imagination let me know a little more about him. What a mind! Who would have known. Thanks Josh. You put up a great fight and will be remembered by the PMMNG. Condolences go out to all.
Phil & Barbara Falkowitz

Maddie Hunter

June 19, 2017

Joshua was an important part of the support network for Myeloma patients and their families in the Philadelphia area. He was a strong fundraiser for research and a forward-looking web master who strengthened how we all could share information. Joshua's commitment to the group's Board of Directors was exemplary. All of us in the PMMNG are heartbroken for the loss of his presence. Please accept our sympathies and know we will keep Joshua's memory alive.

Nancy Stewart

June 19, 2017

I am saddened to hear of a Josh's passing. I knew that he was having a tough time with the Myeloma, but you always hope that the next treatment will be successful. Josh was always a quiet cheerleader for all of us who also are living with this disease. I will miss his presence at our PMMNG meetings.

I didn't know of all of Josh's talents and interests, but have enjoyed his wry sense of humor in his "Marrow Me" writings. Josh was instrumental in encouraging he PMMNG to be more active on the web through the website, Facebook, PayPal and the newsletter. He and Kristina, another departed Myeloma friend, designed the tribute cards for the PMMNG.

JOSH's talents, humor, friendship and loyalty will be missed by his many Myeloma friends. I'm sending my loving embrace to all of you in his family.

Nancy Stewart

Marilyn Alexander

June 19, 2017

It is with sadness that I learned of Joshua's passing. He was a long and active member of our support group for many years. He was very helpful to our group with helping to get our website up and running in the beginning. We will be forever grateful to him for his contributions to this. He will be missed by many of us who knew him. Our condolences go out to his family.

Marilyn Alexander
PMMNG (Philadelphia Multiple Myeloma Support Group)

Sheila McMillan

June 19, 2017

To Joshua's Family, As a co-worker of Joshua, I had the distinct pleasure of working with him when the School of Public Health was a new school. He always lent a helping hand and had quick witty sayings to cheer us up. I'd like to extend my deepest sympathy by saying that we never lose the people we love. They live the rest of our lives with us in our hearts. He is and will forever be in our hearts and fondest memories.

Sincerely, Sheila A. McMillan

Sharon Alexander

June 19, 2017

We are deeply sorry to hear of Joshua's passing. He was an important part of our support group as he sat on our Board until his health declined. He enhanced our website with his knowledge of computers and the English language and was an invaluable member of our support group which he attended on a monthly basis. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. He will be greatly missed. With our deepest sympathy, The Philadelphia Multiple Myeloma Networking Group

Judith Roberts Soslowsky

June 17, 2017

I'm one of Joshua's sisters and I thank you for your thoughtful words and sharing of memories. To read them is of great comfort to us and hopefully to you as well, in the telling. Thank you, Thank you.

Catherine Dupree

June 17, 2017

I met Joshua in 2004. He found me through the Sewanee Writers' Conference which we had both attended although in different years. We exchanged work and critiqued each other's short fiction. His writing was always lively, well-observed, often a bit dark and quite funny. I remember meeting him at a bar in Old City--it must have been several months after his diagnosis-- and he was just as sly and witty as he had always been. I moved to Los Angeles in 2006 and we exchanged emails from time to time. He was always so encouraging of my writing and never dwelled on his health situation. When my father was diagnosed with myeloma in July 2016, I reached out to Joshua and he was so supportive and helpful, offering to talk with my dad about living with such a dreadful disease. I am so sad to see he has finally lost his battle. But he absolutely made an impact on others during his too-short time on earth.

Carol Cohen

June 17, 2017

So sorry about the passing of dear Joshua who fought the brave fight against that monster- multiple Mylenoma. We were all blessed to have him with us for too short a time. He will be forever in our hearts and memory.

Randy Girer

June 17, 2017

Very very sad to hear of Joshua's passing.

Johanna Moore

June 17, 2017

To Josh's family: I have known Josh since his F & M days when I was but a high school girl in Lancaster. Losing him this day tears a part of the fabric of my life. I love his wit, sarcasm, knowledge. And even his curmudgeonliness. I am so glad that I was able to spend an afternoon with him in Philadelphia on New Year's Day 2015. We walked through the mess of Mummers from his home up to South Street to meet a fellow F & M grad for dinner. He remarked on how important it was for him to connect with our friend. Someone living with a death paragraph obviously knew more about this than I did at the time. Josh will always live on as long as I do. Please know how important he has been to me. I am sad that he is lost to us now. Peace

joan Byrnes

June 17, 2017

You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. My God keep you in the palm of his hand at this difficult and sorrowful time . God Bless

Genevieve Kanter

June 17, 2017

I was so sad to hear this. Josh was a happy soul who was a lovely colleague and congenial co-worker. I had the good fortune to work with Josh at Drexel, and he would always do his best to support us and our work. So sorry for your loss, and all my sympathies to your family during this difficult time.

pamela moore

June 17, 2017

Goodbye Josh. Will miss you on Facebook. You had a special wit that made me laugh with you. Goodbye Dr Benway ;)

Steven Feldman

June 16, 2017

I met Joshua at the Sewanee Writers' Conference in 1998. We struck up an instant friendship, and a few years later when I moved to Harrisburg, PA, I came into Philly often and met Joshua for concerts, literary events, and the odd Atlantic City run. We also hit the road together and had a fantastic jaunt through Vietnam and Cambodia (mentioned in some of his published writing), and Las Vegas. I used to tease him that he had "oppressively good taste"--he was prodigiously well-read, loved music from Mahler to the Ramones, and knew movies from classic to cult and everything in between. A true friend whose couch I've crashed on many times. A GREAT writer. A real Philly guy. This loss hurts. Goodbye, Josh.

Kathleen Turner

June 16, 2017

I'm very sorry for your loss. Through the years I worked with Joshua I always admired his strength and his wry sense of humor.

Julianna Baggott

June 16, 2017

My husband and I met Joshua shortly after his diagnosis. He'd come to a reading in Philly and we ended up in conversation. I remember him jotting notes (pre cellphones) and being really engaged in literature and writing, craft and narrative. He was generous with us and I've thought of him often, especially seeing his posts and how engaged in living he continued to be. We send our love to all who loved him and miss him.
Julianna Baggott & David Scott

Jessie Levey

June 16, 2017

I love you all. My heart aches and I hope you will call on me if you need anything at all. xoxoxjessie

Eileen McDonough

June 16, 2017

My thoughts, love, hugs, and prayers are with the entire Roberts family during this very difficult time.

Kyriacos Athanasiou

June 16, 2017

We, Kyriacos and Kiley Athanasiou, are so sorry to hear this. Our condolences to the families. You are all in our thoughts and prayers.

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