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Roberta ' s father was a decorated hero and prisinor of war who passed away when she was five weeks old .
Roberta had a very special bond with her mother , who faced tremendously difficult circumstances being widowed twice .
to tell her that she couldn ’ t , because at the time Princeton was a school just for boys . In fact , Roberta explains that , at that time , it was expected for most girls to graduate high school and get married or become a nurse . She chose a different path .
Upon high school graduation Roberta took the scholarship exam at Manor College , and sure enough , she received one . She took the legal secretarial two-year program and then worked at a law firm where she met her husband , Frank . They had their first three children in fast succession , and Roberta juggled caring for her young children with going to night school at LaSalle for her Bachelor of Arts in psychology , which she earned , magna cum laude . Even though Frank was a very successful trial lawyer , Roberta was adamant that as a mother she needed to be able to support her children financially . She had learned through the passing of her father and stepfather , and seeing her mother face these very difficult and unexpected life changes , that one must be ready for the unexpected .
Roberta ’ s father , James O . Lyons , had been a first lieutenant in the U . S . Army during World War II , and after a courageous stand at Ardennes , he and thousands of other soldiers were taken as prisoners .
After being held as a POW for four and a half months , he was liberated and then repatriated to U . S . soil . Just weeks before his return stateside , his baby daughter , Roberta , had been born . Due to malnutrition and pneumonia , Lt . Lyons passed away just weeks after his homecoming . This left Roberta ’ s mother , Sally , alone with a 17-month-old boy , James , and a five-week-old infant , Roberta . Years later Sally married William Rapp , and then experienced his sudden passing when he was only in his fifties . Roberta was deeply impacted by these experiences and by her mother ’ s struggle which she witnessed so intimately . She learned that “ life can change in an instant , and one must be prepared at all costs .”
As an adult , having obtained her bachelor ’ s degree , and still raising a passel of kids , Roberta went to work at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science ( which later became Philadelphia University ) as an event coordinator . She then applied to become assistant director of graduate admissions . While in that role , and while stepping in as acting director of graduate admissions , Roberta earned her Master of Science in instructional technology .
Some time later Roberta took a job at Holy Family University where she became the executive director of undergraduate admissions . After five years there , she went to Immaculata University for a year before leaving in order to tend to a broken arm that required multiple surgeries . It was not long before she was itching to get back to work , and found a place at Widener University . While there as the director of graduate enrollment management , she completed her doctorate work and found success in bridging
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