Roberta “Robbie” Lundy Headley, a dedicated educator and community volunteer, passed away on October 21, 2026, at the inpatient hospice unit of Christiana Hospital. She was 85. Having lived with Alzheimer’s disease in recent years, she had been a resident of the Memory Care unit at the Summit Retirement Community in Hockessin, Delaware, for the past three years.
Her family, who remembers her with deep gratitude, noted that she was preceded in death by her husband of many years, William “Bill” E. Headley, who passed away two years earlier. Her life was defined by a commitment to service, a passion for the arts, and an upbringing that spanned several continents.
A Life of Global Perspectives and Education
Born into a family that valued public health and academic achievement, Roberta’s early years were shaped by her father, Howard Winston Lundy, a Ph.D. in bacteriology, and her mother, Frances Gill Lundy, who was among the few women in the 1930s to earn a college degree in chemistry. In 1949, when Roberta was eight years old, the family moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and later to Mexico City, Mexico, as her father served as a Health Education Consultant with the United States Public Health Service. These formative years instilled in her a lifelong appreciation for diverse cultures and languages.
Following her father’s untimely death in 1955, Roberta pursued her own academic path, graduating from Douglass College—the women’s division of Rutgers University—in 1963 with a major in psychology. That same spring, she met her future husband, Bill Headley, while he was attending graduate school at Princeton University. The couple eventually settled in Summit, New Jersey, where Bill began teaching physics and math at the Kent Place School in 1965.
Roberta’s career in education began in 1972 when she started teaching kindergarten at the same school, eventually rising to become the Director of the Kindergarten. Throughout her 33-year tenure, she was a pioneer for professional development, becoming the first faculty member at Kent Place to receive an award to study abroad, which took her to Oxford University to observe early childhood education models.
Community Impact and Legacy in Delaware
After retiring from teaching, Roberta and Bill moved to Wilmington, Delaware, in 2006. She quickly became a fixture at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Mill Creek (UUSMC), where she sang in the choir, taught religious education, and served on the Social Justice Committee. Her commitment to service extended to Literacy Delaware, Inc., where she spent a decade tutoring adult students. Her efforts were recognized with a Distinguished Volunteer Award presented by then-Governor Jack Markell.
Beyond her professional and volunteer work, Roberta was an avid oil painter who found joy in capturing landscapes from her travels. She is survived by her three children: Diana Headley Saunders and her husband Chris Malmstrom; Robert Headley and his wife Natalie He; and Jon Headley and his wife Wende Headley. She also leaves behind seven grandchildren: Jessica and Fiona Saunders, Tyler and Sofia Headley, and Matt, Chris, and Jackson Headley.
Family Schedules Celebration of Life Service in Delaware
A celebration of life service is scheduled for Saturday, December 12, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. at the UUSMC, located at 579 Polly Drummond Hill Road, Newark, Delaware. The family has expressed their appreciation to the staff at Accent Care Inpatient Hospice at Christiana Hospital, as well as the teams at Comfort Keepers, Home Instead, and the Summit Retirement Community for their compassionate care.
Those wishing to honor her memory are encouraged to consider donations to the Unitarian Universalist Society of Mill Creek or Literacy Delaware, Inc.
