Samuel R. Roberts | Financial adviser, 79

Samuel R. Roberts, 79, of Audubon, a retired financial adviser, died of complications from multiple myeloma Thursday at Bryn Mawr Hospital.

Mr. Roberts grew up in Wynnewood, graduated from the Haverford School, and earned a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College. During the Korean War, he served in the Navy aboard ships in the Atlantic for three years and then remained in the Naval Reserve, retiring after 20 years as a captain.

After his active military duty, Mr. Roberts joined his father's security firm, Schmidt, Roberts & Parke, in Philadelphia. He eventually became president of the firm and later was vice president of Newbold's Asset Management in Philadelphia. He retired from Newbold's in the 1990s and then was a financial adviser at Janney, Montgomery, Scott until well into his 70s.

Mr. Roberts was past president of the Philadelphia Securities Association and the Bond Club of Philadelphia and was a former governor of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.

He and his wife, Nancy Roberts, lived in St. Davids until 2006, when they moved to Shannondell, a retirement community in Audubon. The couple, who married in 1951, had met as teenagers at Overbrook Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Roberts enjoyed books about history, especially the Civil War, and spending time with his grandchildren at their summer home in Avalon, N.J., his wife said. He was concerned about preserving nature, she said, and served on the board of the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, N.J.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Roberts is survived by sons John and Samuel Jr.; daughters Joan Barminski, Gina Edwards, and Sally Harrison; a sister; and 11 grandchildren.

A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. today at Wayne Presbyterian Church, where Mr. Roberts was an elder, 125 E. Lancaster Ave., Wayne.