By Brad Jones
GPAA Managing Editor
Longtime Gold Prospectors Association of America member Nancy Roberts has died. She was 66.
Born Aug. 11, 1948, in Los Angeles, Roberts was serving her eighth year as president of the Central Valley Prospectors, a local GPAA chapter based in Fresno, Calif., when she passed away May 21. She was also a California state director for the GPAA.
Roberts moved from Hollywood to the Fresno area where she worked as a standup-comedian, and later started a pool and spa tile cleaning business. Eventually, she joined the local GPAA chapter. She was a colorful character who became well-known and well-respected among members.
Penny Steele, a close friend of Roberts, said she will be dearly missed.
"She loved people. She loved life. She was very loyal. No one was a stranger," Steele said. "She cared about everyone, and just wanted to help everybody. She wanted to listen and solve problems. She just loved life."
"Her father died at 66 and she had said he was waiting for her," Steele said. "So, she probably knew something was up."
Among her GPAA prospecting family, Roberts became famous for her saying, "There will be no whining." In fact, a graphic on the Central Valley Prospectors reads: "Stop Global Whining." But, she was also known to say, "Don't wait for the world to come to you."
"Nancy Roberts loved everybody with all her heart. She would find the good in anyone, and help them as long as they wanted to help themselves," said GPAA Executive Director of Operations Dominic Ricci. "She lived life to the fullest."
Roberts believed in getting everyone involved in club activities, no matter what their age or ability.
"Nancy saw good in everybody, and had a way to let everyone help and feel good about it. She was a wealth of knowledge and she taught people of all ages. When new members of her chapter would walk up and share their finds, she was right there to share in the excitement," Ricci said.
"Nancy was a leader and had an overflowing heart and passion for 'the club.' My first experience of understanding what "pure gold" really is was on my first trip to a Central Valley Prospectors Gold Show," Ricci said. "My son,Tristan, was immediately shown love and taught how to pan for real gold. We attended an outing too, where Nancy made sure Tristan found a special piece of quartz gold."
Two celebration of life ceremonies will be held in California—the first in Columbia Saturday, June 20 at 11155 Jackson St., Columbia, CA 95310. Doors open at noon and lunch starts at 12:30 p.m. No alcohol, please. The second celebration of life ceremony will be held in Fresno at 10 a.m., Saturday, June 27 at the New Thought Community Church, 2060 N. Winery Ave. #101, Fresno, CA 93703. There will be a potluck following the celebration and the family is asking that you bring enough for your group and five to 10 others. Meats and side dishes are needed. Also, please bring your own drinks, eating utensils, including plates and napkins. For more information about the Fresno ceremony, or if you have questions about what to bring for the Fresno potluck, please call Bear at (559) 906-8707. (This is her business phone, so please take that into consideration. If she does not answer immediately, she will get back to you.) For further information, please email Central Valley Prospectors at cvprospector@cvprospectors.org.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested monetary donations to cover medical expenses. Please make checks payable to Penny Steele, and in the memo, please write: "In Memory of Nancy Roberts." Please mail checks to:
Penny Steele
10466 N Armstrong
Clovis CA 93619
Mike Roach, who served as vice-president of the Central Valley Prospectors, said he will fondly remember Roberts, and that she has left some big shoes to fill within the chapter.
"Nancy knew so many people," Roach said. "She did such a great job as president and she was so organized. It is a tremendous loss."
But, the club will continue in the spirit she set forth—the way she would have wanted, he said.
"It was never about Nancy," Roach said. "Nancy always put everyone—and anyone—else first ... She saw the good in everyone."
Roberts was featured in the August/September 2012 issue of the GPAA's Pick & Shovel Gazette and was also profiled in Gold Prospectors magazine.
"It's also our philosophy within our club that not everyone can do everything, but everyone can do something … It all works," Roberts said. "We have a wonderful attitude."
Brad Jones is the Managing Editor/Communications Director for the Gold Prospectors Association of America and the Lost Dutchman's Mining Association. He can be reached at bjones@goldprospectors.org
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