Milton R. Roberts, a native of Annapolis, MD, began his lacrosse career at Annapolis High School in 1935 and played at the Severn School in Severna Park in 1937 and 1938. He played lacrosse on an undefeated U.S. Naval Academy team in 1939 and then transferred to Johns Hopkins University, where he also played.

Roberts served with the U.S. Army in World War II in reconnaissance and intelligence in Germany and was awarded three Bronze Star Medals. He received a Purple Heart after being shot in the leg.

In 1946, he resumed his lacrosse career at Johns Hopkins and completed his Bachelor's degree in Spanish. He began coaching lacrosse at the University of Delaware in 1949 and coached the Blue Hens until 1957, when he returned to Maryland to become an Assistant Coach and Scout for the Severn School. In 1965, he went back to Delaware and started Delaware's first public high school lacrosse program at Cape Henlopen High in 1979.

Roberts served on the Board of Directors of the Lacrosse Foundation, the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association and the U.S. Lacrosse Coaches Association. His two books, "The Lacrosse Story" and "The Lacrosse Story 1965-1976," document the history of the American Indian sport. He also was a historian of black athletes and served on the editorial staff of three national magazines.

Honors

In 1981, he was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

He was posthumously inducted into the State of Delaware Sports Hall of Fame and into the University of Delaware Athletic Hall of Fame.

Death and Burial

Milton R. Roberts died of cancer on 2 January 1991 at his home in Rehoboth Beach, DE. Funeral services were held at the Naval Academy Chapel. He is buried at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, MD, in Section 06, Lot 1276 C.

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