Roberta Wilson 1927-2026

Roberta was born in Thomson, Georgia in 1927.  She was the fourth of nine children born to Mary and Henry Wilson.  Her parent’s motto was: “Whatever you undertake, always do your very best.”  This teaching has inspired Roberta throughout her whole life.  Roberta lived in Chicago for 80 years and has been an active member of TUC for 63 of those years. She has been involved in many outreach committees, leagues and movements, including the Civil Rights Movement. She was a part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. March on Washington in 1963. The MLK movement brought her in contact with TUC when Dr. King moved to Chicago in 1965 at the invitation of the Chicago Freedom Movement. Once a member, she became a co-founder in 1974 of the Austin Scholarship Program now called Austin Scholars Awards Program. She was a paraprofessional in the Chicago Public Schools for 33 years.  Roberta has been a union delegate at the city, state, and national levels. Even after retirement in 2001, she continued to be an active delegate of the Chicago Teachers Union until 2021.  Then, Roberta stayed active with CTU as a Sargeant-at-Arms for general meetings. Roberta was inducted into the Chicago Senior Citizens Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Senior Illinoisans Hall of Fame in 2011.  In addition to church ministry and CTU, Roberta was involved with many social service organizations and community leaders, such as her block club, the CAPS program, union advocacy, the League of Women Voters, and government officials at the city, county, state, and federal levels.