Betty J. Roberts (Williams) was born in Marion, Ohio, in 1921. She graduated from Harding High School in 1939 and attended Miami University where she was a member of the Sigma Kappa sorority. Betty married her junior high sweetheart, John Roberts, in 1944 in Fort Pierce, Florida. 

During World War II, John served in the Pacific and Betty worked at the Marion County Bank as the head of the Personal Loan Department. They had five children, Charles, Tom, Frank, Anne and Nancy.

After the war, the couple moved several times due to John’s job. They lived in Ohio, Indiana, Canada and finally settled DeKalb in 1964. Betty was always committed to serving her community. She was an elder and deacon at Westminster Presbyterian Church. In 1982, she was awarded the Humanitarian Award from Northern Illinois University and in 1986, she was honored with the Heritage Award from Kishwaukee Community Hospital. She served as president to DeKalb Public and Kishwaukee Hospital Auxiliaries. Betty was a member of the Sycamore-DeKalb Pan-Hellenic, Kishwaukee Symphony Association, KCH 100, and she served on the board of directors for Opportunity House and Family Service Agency.

Betty passed away in 1997, but her and John’s legacy live on through the John and Betty Roberts Community Foundation Administrative Fund. Established in 2008, the Fund provides an annual distribution to the operations of the DeKalb County Community Foundation to help support their mission and services through staffing and other resources. The original Fund donation also led to a dollar-for-dollar match from the Grand Victoria Foundation, which partnered with the DeKalb County Community Foundation to create the CommunityWorks and Administrative Endowment Fund initiatives