Anna Roberts; active with civic groups

Anna Ingersoll Roberts, 90, of Bryn Mawr, a direct descendant of Jared Ingersoll, a signer of the Constitution, died Sunday, March 10, at home of complications from a stroke eight days earlier.

Jared Ingersoll was one of eight signers from Pennsylvania. Among the others were Gouverneur Morris, Thomas Mifflin, and Benjamin Franklin. The Ingersolls were prominent in Philadelphia Democratic circles from the time of Andrew Jackson until that of Harry S. Truman.

The oldest daughter of C. Jared and Marian Baird Ingersoll, Mrs. Roberts graduated in 1939 from Westover School in Middlebury, Conn. She was president of the Class of 1943 at Vassar College, graduating with a degree in history.

Mrs. Roberts worked at the War Labor Board in Philadelphia until her marriage to Brooke Roberts in September 1944. They had met at a party at Princeton.

Afterward, she devoted much of her energy to helping advance her husband's career as a surgeon at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as well as doing charity work to promote medical services.

She worked on fund-raising projects for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Child Guidance Clinic; was president of the Women's Committee of the College of Physicians; and made a major contribution to the Penn hospital by cochairing the Philadelphia Antiques Show for four years in the 1960s.

Under her stewardship, the show became a significant fund-raising tool for the hospital.

"They ended up getting dealers from all over the country," said her son Thomas B.

She and her husband were married 58 years. They lived in Whitemarsh and moved to the retirement community Beaumont at Bryn Mawr in 1996. He died in 2003.

Surviving in addition to her son, are sons Jared I. and Andrew B.; seven grandchildren; and two sisters.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Friday, March 15, at St. Asaph's Church, 27 Conshohocken State Rd., Bala Cynwyd, Pa. 19004. Interment is private.

Donations may be made to Ronald McDonald House, 3925 Chestnut St., Philadelphia 19104, or to St. Asaph's.