Godfrey Roberts

In Loving Memory

We are sad to announce the passing of Godfrey Alphonso Roberts on Friday, 24th October 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, two weeks short of his 92nd birthday.

Godfrey, or Goff, as he was known to friends and family, was born and raised in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. In 1958, he traveled to Wales for the Commonwealth Games as a long jumper and 400m runner and remained in the UK. He met and married Helen Stevenson in London, and they had two daughters before moving to Montreal, Canada in 1967.

With a lifelong passion for jazz, Godfrey was a self-taught musician who toured across Canada as a drummer with a band.

Godfrey was a solitary man with strongly held views and a slow, deep chuckling laugh. He showed his love in practical ways. His daughters fondly remember him teaching them how to appreciate and recognize jazz artists, or to cook his signature curry goat.

Godfrey worked hard as an electronic technician in Canada and the US before retiring in 2010. Sadly, the last 15 years of his life were increasingly overtaken by Alzheimer’s and he was well cared for by the staff at Gibson Longterm Care in North York.

Godfrey is preceded by his wife, Helen Roberts; his mother, Edna Joseph; his sisters, Hyacinth Pemberton and Zinna Etmon; and his father, Delmar Roberts, who died when Godfrey was two years old. He is survived by his daughters, Joanne Roberts and Diane Roberts, and by his nephews Sean Etmon and Dwayne Etmon, and nieces Nicola Pemberton-Howard and Najuma Pemberton.

There will be a private memorial in fulfillment of Godfrey's wishes. If you would like to honour Godfrey's memory, we invite you to donate to the Alzheimer Society of Canada in his name using the link to the page below:

CLICK HERE