It is with great sadness that we announce the unexpected passing of Walter Melvin Roberts, III on Sunday, August 29, 2021.  Walter is survived by his brother Anthony, extended family and his many, many close friends who were like family to him as well.  Born March 19, 1959, Walter was 62 when he passed from heart failure suddenly in his home in Detroit, Michigan, shortly after beginning his second battle with cancer.  He was vibrant until the end, attending a wedding celebration with friends out of town the weekend before he died.  

Walter was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, a place he always called home notwithstanding the many other places he lived and loved during most of his adult life. He attended Gesu Catholic grade school (’73) and graduated from Catholic Central High School (’77) in Detroit.  He attained his BA in Philosophy and Greek (summa cum laude) from Columbia College (1979-83), his MA in Philosophy at the University of Chicago (1986-89), his MA in Latin from UC Berkeley 1994-97, and Ph.D. in Classics from UC Berkeley in 2006.  His insatiable desire to learn and teach the Classics, Greek and Latin, and Ancient History and Literature was his driving passion.  His work was his joy and his joy was his work.  His whole life Walter lit up any room he walked into.  His authentic enthusiasm for connecting with other people enabled him to have many close friends.  Walter did not thrive with small talk (except regarding Detroit sports teams) and his interactions with others were typically deep and intense.  He always thirsted for deep knowledge about anyone and anything he encountered.  He was curious and eager to share his knowledge with others about anything that would help improve their life’s experience. Walter was a seeker. After enjoying a bike trip through Alaska in the 1980s and looking for a place with the same feel, he became a beloved regular in Polebridge, Montana. There he could be found most summers, living without electricity, studying rigorously but with breaks spent hiking, biking, kibitzing, and jumping in cold water as well as hosting “Great Conversations” classes with valley inhabitants.

Among Walter’s many accomplishments, in 2001 he won the McKay Prize for a translation of Juvenal’s “10th Satire”; in 2011, published Cicero’s Political Imperative: A Reading of On Duties; and more recently, produced over 150 educational videos on Ancient Greek translation. He was a professor of Latin at the University of Vermont (Burlington) and founded the Detroit Greek and Latin Educational Foundation (DGL).

True to his lifelong passion for education and social justice, in 2012 he renounced his college professorship and moved home to Detroit to begin his DGL non-profit foundation.  He taught the classics to inner-city children for two years and continuously sought to bring back Latin and classical education to the Detroit Public School system.He truly wanted to make a difference for the youth of Detroit.

Among his many legacies, the greatest was the indelible mark Walter left on anyone he knew, young and old.  His circle of friends was vast and varied and he was fiercely loyal to those he loved.  All his loved ones are stunned and deeply saddened by his loss but his spirit and unique example of how to live an authentic life will live with them forever.  

There was an outdoor service for close friends and family in memory of Walter in Palmer Park on October 10, 2021.There will be a celebration of Walter’s life in Polebridge, Montana on May 15, 2022.