Obituary of David Cullen Roberts

David Cullen Roberts born August 31, 1938 in White Plains, New York passed away on June 3, 2019 surrounded by loved ones at Wuesthoff Hospice House in Rockledge, FL. Dave spent most of his early years running the streets of the Bronx, NY. In 1955 he joined the U.S. Navy and proudly served on the USS Iowa. After the Navy, he returned to NYC where he worked on the Long Island Railroad for 17 years. Dave moved his family to Palm Bay, FL in 1977 where he became a general contractor. He founded Palm Bay Aluminum Corporation and Key Home Builders, which served thousands of customers over the next 40 years. Dave loved to experience as much as possible in life. In his final days he often rhetorically said, “who had a better life than me?” “I have the world’s greatest family, and at some point, had every toy they ever came up with”. He was a pilot logging nearly 1500 hours at the controls, enjoyed boating, motorcycles and old cars. He travelled extensively throughout the world including to Costa Rica more than 250 times where he had a second home. He was an avid poker player and loved spending time with family and friends. He was a regular at Rooney’s Pub in Palm Bay for nearly 40 years where he made many friends and socialized with countless patrons. Dave was an enthusiastic fan of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune and scolded those who called him during those sacred show times. His family was glad Dave missed seeing fellow gambler James Holzhauer lose on the final day of his life. Dave’s commentary on everything, including politics and religion will be missed. If you spoke to Dave in the morning and asked how he was doing, he often replied, “well, I read the obituaries and I was not in them, so I guess I am better than others”. Well Dave, you finally made it in, and you will be sorely missed by many. Dave was preceded in death by his mother, Shirley and father George. He is survived by his wife Christy of 37 years and children, Janet Hoffman, Janie (Richie) Hall, Sean (Karine) Roberts, Scott (Kyla) Shaffer, his brother Richard (Marcia) Roberts, sister Cinny (Carmen) Giordano, his first wife, mother of his children and friend Betty Darney and her husband Wally, and numerous grandchildren. In lieu of flowers or donations please join Dave’s family and friends in raising a glass to celebrate a life well lived, the way he would want us to, on Saturday, June 29th at 7:00 p.m. at Rooney’s (2641 NE Palm Bay Road). Arrangements by Ammen Family Cremation and Funeral Care, Rockledge, 321-632-1350. p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; direction: ltr; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; }a:link { color: rgb(0, 0, 128); text-decoration: underline; }a:visited { color: rgb(128, 0, 0); text-decoration: underline; }