Photo courtesy of Bill and Liz Roberts.
Bill and Liz Roberts
Bill and Liz Roberts have been married for 68 years and have established a legacy of faithfulness in Trussville.
For nearly 68 years, Bill and Liz Roberts have shared a life shaped not by grand gestures but by faithfulness — faithfulness to each other, to their church and to the community they call home.
Married at 17 and 18 years old with little more than determination and trust, the two started with nothing, but they didn’t know it.
“Neither one of us ever lived in a home with a bathroom before we got married. But we didn’t know what we didn’t have,” Bill said.
On their wedding day, funds were short.
Bill recalled, “I had $40. I gave the preacher $20.”
When Liz realized what he had done, she quickly reminded him, “We haven’t even bought groceries yet.”
What’s the key to a long and happy marriage? For years, Bill and Liz taught young married couples at church, often sharing the same principles he and Liz lived by — lessons some still quote decades later.
Photos courtesy of Bill and Liz Roberts.
Bill and Liz Roberts
Bill and Liz Roberts through the years.
Bill shared, “We’ve always lived within our means. If you’ll save 10% of what you make and give at least 10% of what you make, you will never have financial struggles.”
Their faith has always guided Bill and Liz, and church is a regular necessity.
“Church has been constant in our lives — all 68 years of marriage,” Bill said. “Church has been very important in our lives. It’s almost like eating. It’s just us.”
He continued, “I made three major decisions within six months early on — got married, started my only job and made a profession of faith. Church became constant from that point on.”
Their relationship seemed meant to be right from the start. Things were different then, and nobody seemed concerned about the two teenagers getting married. In proposing to Liz, Bill told her if she’d get a job, they could get married. She went out and got a job right away at the phone company, asking to apply for the job that paid the most money.
“They asked me if I knew how to read a phone bill,” Liz said. “I told them our family had never even had a phone.”
They hired her for a customer service position right away. She worked there for three years until their first child was born.
Bill and Liz have never had a serious argument.
“People wouldn’t believe it, but in 68 years of marriage, we’ve never had any serious issues — never any thought of leaving. I never really thought about it not being forever even from the beginning,” he said.
Liz has kept Bill grounded, something that has helped their marriage succeed. Bill worked at the same company, Tractor and Equipment, all his adult life. He shared an experience following one of his promotions.
“We got in the car after I’d just been promoted, and I asked her, ‘Aren’t you proud of me?’ And she said, ‘I was more proud of you for saying the prayer.’ Every man needs somebody to keep him grounded. That’s what she’s always done for me.”
When Bill retired, he knew he didn’t want to just sit around. That’s not his personality. He told then-Mayor Gene Melton that he wanted to serve somewhere in the community, preferably on the school board.
Melton suggested that he run for city council, where he’d at least get paid a little for his efforts, but Bill was sure of his desire to serve on the school board. Melton put Bill’s name on the list as a candidate, and he was not only appointed but also reappointed, serving a total of 10 years, including multiple years as board president.
“Serving on the school board was probably the highlight of my career because everything we did was about making things better and safer for our kids,” Bill said.
He then added, “Of everything we did, the thing I’m the proudest of is putting a bridge across the Cahaba River. That bridge did more than people realize. It made things safer for our kids, saved parents time and changed everyday life for students.”
Liz brought her own quiet leadership to their life together, serving as a church pianist from a young age and later earning the titles of Ms. Senior Trussville, Ms. Jefferson County and Ms. Alabama — honors Bill still speaks of with pride.
In recent years, their commitment to students has been formally recognized. Bill was inducted into the inaugural Trussville City Schools Hall of Fame last year, and recently the new Roberts Softball Stadium was named for the couple. The softball stadium holds special meaning for both of them. Bill’s longtime support of girls’ sports, combined with Liz’s own experience playing softball at a time when girls’ sports barely existed, made it a natural commitment of opportunity for young women.
In 2020, Bill and Liz established the Bill and Liz Roberts Character Scholarship to encourage students who reflect the values they hold dear. Since its inception, the scholarship has awarded approximately 20 scholarships, providing two to four $2,500 awards each year to Hewitt-Trussville students.
Bill and Liz continue to be active members at First Baptist Church Trussville. Liz sings in the choir, and Bill serves on various committees as needed.
A longtime deacon at First Baptist, Bill was recently named Deacon Emeritus at the conclusion of his final term in recognition of decades of faithful service. When the title is mentioned, he brushes it off with characteristic humility, calling it simply “a sign of getting old.”
No matter how much Bill did in the community, Liz’s support made everything possible.
“I could not have done any of this — business, service, any of it — without her support. I just couldn’t have,” he said.
Bill and Liz receive so much joy from giving to others.
“One of the things that makes me the happiest now is when I do something for other people,” Bill said. “I just want people who know me to know that I love the city and the school … and have put forth a lot of time and effort to help make it better.”
Together, Bill and Liz raised two sons, Scott (wife Alandra) and Jeff (wife Darcy), and are now the proud grandparents to Jared, Jonathan, Joseph, Garlyn and Grant — and great-grandparents to Billie Lyn — a growing family that reflects the same values of faith, work and commitment that Bill and Liz have lived out for decades.
It hasn’t all been easy. Liz has had cancer diagnoses three times: colon, breast and thyroid cancers. Bill was also diagnosed with colon cancer in 2012, and their son Scott had surgery for bladder cancer just a few months ago. All have had positive outcomes thanks to early detection.
“We’ve been very blessed,” Bill said. “All of our cancers were caught early. We’ve always believed in going to the doctor and staying on top of things.”
What’s the foundation of their relationship?
“Trust, respect and 68 years of being faithful to one another,” Bill said.
What do Bill and Liz think matters most at the end of life?
“The thing that matters most is where we’re going to spend eternity. All these things — if we’re not right, none of it matters.”
And how would they summarize their love story in one word?
“Faithfulness. We’ve been faithful: faithful to the Lord and faithful to each other,” Bill said.
In a world that often rushes past commitment, the Roberts’ story is a quiet reminder that faithfulness still matters.
