QUITMAN — Wayland Gains Roberts,
Ill was born on Christmas Eve, 1953, in Washington County Hospital in Fayetteville, Ark. He was the eldest son of Ethel Griffin and Wayland Roberts, Jr. They nicknamed him ‘Rusty’ and to his family, and their friends in particular, he has always remained Rusty. He graduated from Parkview High School in 1972. He was voted the Most Popular Boy in Parkview with a full-page photo of him in their annual.
Wayland changed careers from Paramount Life Insurance Company where he worked with his father from his college years until his father’s death and the sale of the company. He had started at Paramount Life as an agent, ended as Assistant Agency Director.
He earned two bachelor degrees in Psychology and Rehabilitation Science from Arkansas Tech University, as well as a Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Education and Counseling from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He went on to earn his PH.D. in Rehabilitation Education and Research from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. While at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, he received the E. Russell Baxter Outstanding Doctoral Student Award, with a Permanent plaque in the Rehabilitative Science Department. He served as both a Graduate Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He was an invited participant and attended both the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation Next Generation Leadership Symposium in 1999, and served on the Arkansas Governor’s Olmstead Plan Steering Committee in 2000. Wayland was a co-founder and managing partner of New Hope PsycHab, an Arkansas provider of emergency and crises intervention and respite services for persons with developmental disabilities. Over the years, he and his wife, Diane, provided foster care and support services for individuals with a variety of disabilities. Wayland was a dedicated advocate for others and his work enriched his heart, just as he enriched the lives of those he worked with.
Throughout his lifetime, Wayland loved the outdoors. He especially loved duck hunting, fishing, all animals and birds. He and Diane retired to their countryside home outside of Quitman where he learned to love not only the beautiful view, the fishing lake below their home, and the beautiful countryside of Arkansas, but also raising goats and donkeys. He had two donkeys born last summer and it was a real delight for him to observe their antics daily from the deck. There was also an eagle that came by regularly and would land in the tree about 20 ft. from the deck. Wayland from early childhood loved music. He learned to play the piano, organ, French horn, guitar (he was always singing and listening to music). He loved his family and many friends, and they in turn loved him. He had a compassionate and tender heart for those who needed a friend and his greatest attribute was his willingness to help others. He was a longtime member of First Christian Church in Little Rock where he served as a Deacon and sang in the choir.
Wayland is survived by his wife, Diane Fitcher Roberts; and her children, who became his: Adam, Shaw, Erik (Julie), Heather (Adam); and grandchildren, Michael and Dalilah; his daughter, Rhiannon Roberts Parker (Matt); his mother, Ethel Belle Griffin Roberts-Curry; his brother, Larry Jack Roberts (Jeannie); and nephew, Thomas Roberts (Valerie); and cousins, Gary Griffin, Gaye Griffin, Wayne Higgins (Ricky), Diana Hughes (Joe), Tonya Gibbs (Rusty), Anita Controneo; and all of their children.
Wayland was predeceased by his father, Wayland Roberts, Jr.; step-father, Thomas L. Curry; His grandparents, Bess and Paul Y. Griffin, Sr., Elza and Wayland Roberts, Sr.
Visitation will be held at Roller Chenal Funeral Home at 12 p.m., Tuesday, March 29, 2022. Service will follow in the chapel at 1 p.m. led by Reverend Vanessa Bostick, with burial following at Roselawn cemetery.
Online guestbook: www.rollerfuneralhomes.com/chenal.