Evelyn Payne Roberts

Evelyn Payne Roberts, 91, of Wilson, passed away Tuesday. A Memorial Service will be held at 3:30 on Saturday, April 2, 2022, in Evergreen Memorial Park. Rev. Heather Wong will officiate. The family will receive friends after the service in Evergreen Memorial Park.

Evelyn grew up in Roanoke, Virginia. She loved to dance, especially jitter bugging. She belonged to the Zeta Tau Kappa Sorority at Lincoln Memorial University and met her future husband there. She kept all the newspaper articles of her husband Tom’s basketball career and was instrumental in him being inducted to LMU’s athletic Hall of Fame thirty plus years later.

When computers came along, she taught herself and took classes to help Wilson County digitally transition their finances. She taught herself how to use Instant Messenger so she could talk to her grandsons daily. She always wanted to know what was happening in their families lives no matter how young or old. Evelyn loved ACC basketball and MLB, especially NC State and the New York Yankees.

Evelyn loved talking to people and never met a stranger. She always asked others about their family’s health and well-being. Her inquiries were always genuine. She stayed involved with her children and grandchildren’s lives. She loved traveling and enjoyed watching her sons and grandsons compete in chess tournaments, playing football and piano recitals. Evelyn loved camping both in the mountains and at the beach.

She will be remembered by many and missed forever. She taught her children to love God and only say good things about others. She truly lived by the Golden Rule.

Evelyn is survived by her daughters, Teresa Lynne Roberts, of Wilson and Leslie R. Cockrell and husband, Doug, of Garner; and son, William “Bill” Thomas Roberts and wife, Susan, of Mount Holly; six grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Edwin “Tom” Roberts; son, Gregory Alan Roberts; brother, James Edward Payne and sister, Betty Jean Payne.

Flowers are welcome, as well as memorials in Evelyn’s name to West Nash United Methodist Church, 2200 Nash Street N, Wilson, North Carolina, 27896.

Condolences directed to Joyner’s Funeral Home and Crematory at www.joyners.net.