Lawrence A. Roberts, 86, of Wauchula, passed away Monday, Dec. 15, 2014, at Lakeland Regional Medical Center. He was born in Wauchula on Oct. 18, 1928, to the late A.L. and Fannie Stewart Roberts. In 1946, he graduated with honors from Wauchula High School, where he was a prominent athlete in football, baseball and basketball. He received a bachelor s degree from Stetson University in DeLand in 1950. While there, he was selected Outstanding Business Student for the state, and was guest of the National Association of Manufacturers at their annual meeting in 1950 in New York City. He was the first student from Stetson to receive this honor. Following graduation, he served with distinction in the Counter Intelligence Corp of the U.S. Army in Korea. In 1955, after his marriage to Margaret Pace of Wauchula, he and H.A. (Dave) Davis organized Davis & Roberts, Inc., a real estate and insurance firm from which he retired in 2002. He was a long-time active member of the First Baptist Church of Wauchula where he was baptized in 1939. Through the years he was a faithful Sunday School teacher, having participated in the local Sunday School hour broadcast on the local radio station for many years. He served as chairman of the Deacons, and at the time of his death was a Life Deacon. He was chairman of the church s finance committee throughout the planning and 1985 completion of the current sanctuary located on Wauchula s West Main Street. His involvement in civic organizations includes former Commander and chairman of the executive committee for the American Legion Herger Williams Post #2, past president of the Wauchula Kiwanis Club, Chamber of Commerce, Cracker Main Street, local SHIP housing program and past chairman of the five-county Central Florida Regional Planning Council, having been appointed by former Governors Bob Graham and Lawton Chiles. Other areas of public service include serving in the Florida House of Representatives, working side-by-side with then-state Senator Doyle E. Carlton Jr. The two statesmen were able to pass legislation resulting in the establishment of the local hospital, the Hardee football stadium and South Florida Community College. He served several terms as chairman of the Wauchula City Council and as well as Councilman-at-Large. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Margaret Roberts, who passed away on April 20, 2014. Survivors are one daughter, Kim Roberts of Wauchula; one son, Lawrence A. (Larry) Roberts, Jr. of Atlanta, Ga.; one sister, Thelma Pitts of Pigeon Forge, Tenn.; one brother-in-law, Mark Pace of Dalton, Ga.; one sister-in-law, Earlene Pace of Plant City; nine nieces, Susan Wolfe and husband Russell, Mary Pitts, Peggy Smith, Patsy Westfall, Barbara Pace, Tracy Everett and husband Ron, Debra Horvath, Janet Hale and Stacey Rodriguez; cousins Finley Hannah and wife Betty, Pete and Renee Hannah, and Candy and Larry Sheaffer; and several great-nieces and great-nephews. Funeral services will be held Thursday (today), Dec. 18, at 3 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Wauchula, with visitation beginning at 2 p.m. The Rev. Charles Granger, Marcus Shackelford and the Rev. Joe Butler will officiate. Interment will follow at Wauchula Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to First Baptist Church, 1570 W. Main St., Wauchula, 33873 or Florida Hospital Wauchula, 533 Carlton St., Wauchula, 33873