Mary Alice Roberts

Mary Alice Roberts of Albany, NY died unexpectedly at home on September 9, 2015. She was 67 years old.

Mary Alice is survived by her daughter, Dawn Roberts of Durham, NC, 2 brothers Robert Charles and Joseph Charles, and niece Barbara Emma, as well as extended Barton family and friends. She is preceded in death by her long-time companion, Robert C. Barton, her brother James F. Charles, and her parents.
Mary Alice was a beautiful person, inside and out. She was born in Albany to Mary Emily Shafer Charles and Joseph Francis Charles in 1948 and grew up in the capital area where she attended Blessed Sacrament High School. She was an accomplished beautician by trade for several years and then went to work for nearly 30 years at the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and eventually retired in 2009.

Mary Alice had a very special tenderness in her heart for all animals domestic and wild. She loved all God's creatures and was able to friend even some of the not so friendly ones. She definitely had a gift with animals. She was exceptionally passionate and nurturing of her dogs, horses, cats, and birds. Her gentle nature with horses eventually led her to showing and riding them competitively. Throughout her life she enjoyed the horse races, especially the annual family outings to Saratoga for the Travers Stakes.

Alice lived life with a passion and loved being outdoors enjoying nature. She loved gardening, fishing, boating and camping. She also was a gifted cook, an avid collector, and a nurturing caregiver. She also liked to draw and paint.
She was uniquely witty, intuitive with a tremendous amount of strong will and determination. With her inquisitive nature, she enjoyed taking things apart and either fixing them or simply seeing how they worked. She was always coming up with creative ways to make things work and using non-conventional ways to do it. She loved to repair and invent small helpful things.
Another passion of Alice was she simply loved to laugh and make others laugh and smile. She loved making a difference in people's lives. She will be remembered by friends and family as thoughtful, kind, extremely generous and selfless, and she would often go out of her way to help those in need as she simply enjoyed making them smile. She had an endless amount of love to give, which made her a wonderful mother, friend, neighbor, and a totally amazing woman. She truly touched everyone's life she came across and will be remembered fondly and dearly missed by all those who knew her.

A memorial service is scheduled on Sunday, October 11, 2015 from 9:00-10:00AM at New Comer Funeral Home, 343 New Karner Rd. Albany, 12205. A calling hour will follow the service from 10:00am-11:00am at the funeral home.

All are welcome to attend and celebrate Mary Alice's life.