GULFPORT, MISS.: Hundreds of people waited in line for an hour or more to pay their respects to the late Lucimarian Roberts, a leader on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast for more than 40 years and the mother of ABC’s “Good Morning America” co-host Robin Roberts.
Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home employees tell the Sun-Herald that at least 700 people came to the wake Tuesday evening.
A private funeral is scheduled Wednesday, with burial at the Biloxi National Cemetery next to her husband, Col. Lawrence Roberts, who died in 2004.
Lucimarian Roberts, an Akron native, was the first black person to serve as chairman of the Mississippi State Board of Education.
She died Thursday at her home in Pass Christian at age 88.
Her children also include New Orleans anchor Sally-Ann Roberts of WWL-TV.
