Alfonso "A. A." Roberty

Alfonso “A. A.” Roberty, 94, of Bel Air, MD, passed away on May 14, 2021 at the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, one week before his 95th birthday.

He is the last surviving child of five born to Erminia and Michael Roberty on May 21,1926 in Mannington, West Virginia. While attending high school he worked in his parents’ shoe store and at a local printing company. He graduated from Mannington High School in June of 1944 and was drafted into the Army in August of 1944.

Upon completion of basic training at Camp Croft in South Carolina, he was assigned to the 14thRegiment of the 71st Infantry Division and was sent on the Queen Mary troop ship to Gorrick, Scotland; he then proceeded to South Hampton, England, to cross the English Channel to Le Havre, France and to the Alsace Lorraine area of France to join the U.S. army unit to which he was assigned as a replacement soldier. He participated in military action in several locations across France and through the Siegfried Line to cross the Rhine and Danube Rivers through Germany and Austria. In June of 1945, he was transferred from the 71st Division to the Military Government Unit that was involved in the occupation of places in Bavaria that included Munich and Wurzburg. He continued serving in this assignment, returned to the United States, and was discharged as a Staff Sergeant on the July 4, 1946. He received the Combat Infantryman Badge, the European Theater Operations Medal with two Battle Stars, the Good Conduct Medal, the Victory Medal, and the US Army Occupation Medal. In 2014, Dr. Roberty received the order of Saint Maurice Medal provided by the National Infantry Association.

Following active duty, he graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor’s degree in education from Fairmont State College in West Virginia. That same year he married Ruth Trumbo and was employed as a science and mathematics teacher at Cambridge High School in Dorchester County, Maryland. In 1951, he was employed as a chemistry and physics teacher at Bel Air High School in Harford County, Maryland. In 1953, Dr. Roberty became the Director of Adult Education for Harford County Public Schools. He was appointed to a position at the central office of the school system in 1956, subsequently advancing to the position of Business Manager. In June of 1960, Dr. Roberty received a Master’s degree from the University of Maryland in College Park. In 1977 he earned a Doctor of Education degree from George Washington University, Washington, D. C. In 1962, Dr. Roberty was promoted to Assistant Superintendent of Schools. In 1970, he was appointed to the position of Superintendent of Schools and held the position until he retired in 1988.

In 1970 after Dr. Charles W. Willis, the former superintendent, retired, there remained a substantial need to continue to build new classrooms for the school system. At that time, many portable classrooms were in use in practically every elementary school, middle school, and high school. Dr. Roberty needed to oversee the completion of the construction of Joppatowne High School and the Harford Vocational Technical School. He then planned for construction of Fallston High School (1978) and C. Milton Wright High School (1980). He also planned the construction of the Edgewood Middle School, the North Harford Middle School, and the Magnolia Middle School each with a regulation-sized swimming pool. Dr. Roberty also planned for the construction of six new elementary schools. As a result of these efforts the number of portable classrooms was reduced.


Dr. Roberty made a substantial effort during his 18 years as Superintendent of Schools to seek funding for the construction of a new administration building for the central office staff that occupied an old two- story abandoned elementary school for over 25 years. Part of the staff was housed in inadequate rented spaces and nearby houses. He was unsuccessful in this effort since most of the available funds from the county were used to construct new schools or renovations to schools. However, after Dr. Roberty retired, and on September 10, 2007, the Board of Education of Harford County dedicated a new $11 million four-story building for the central administrative offices, naming it in his honor.

Throughout his career, Dr. Roberty participated in many educational and civic organizations. He was president of the Bel Air Rotary Club and served on the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission and the Board of Directors for Blue Shield. He was a member of the Harford Chamber of Commerce, served as President of the Public School Superintendents Association of Maryland, and was a member of the Maryland Commission on the Funding of Public Education. He was also a member of the American Association of School Administrators, and The George Washington University Chapter of the Phi Delta Kappa Professional Education Fraternity.

One of the highlights of Dr. Roberty’s career was a visit in 1972 to the Soviet Union. Dr. Roberty was one of thirty top school administrators from the United States selected to study schools in the Soviet Union.

Dr. Roberty is survived by his two daughters: Paula C. Roberty, retired Harford County Public Schools music teacher, and Cecilia R. Silva, retired Baltimore County Public Schools teacher and assistant principal, and her husband Michael A. Silva, and two grandsons, Daniel M. Silva and Nicholas A. Silva (Alyse Marselle). His wife, Ruth, passed away in 2005.

The family requests, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to charity of your choice.