Don Ed Roberts

Don Ed Roberts was born on July 13, 1939 in Gainesville, Texas. He was the baby of the family with an older brother, Ross, and older sister, Cecille. Their gregarious mother, Thelma, was the center of her children’s world. Don Ed was a self-proclaimed “mama’s boy”. Don Ed always admired strong women, and this was certainly inspired by her example. Thelma instilled the importance of their Chickasaw heritage, and it was woven throughout the art and stories in his childhood homes. Thelma and her children moved to Norman, Oklahoma when Don Ed was a young boy.

Don Ed graduated from Norman High in 1957 and then attended the University of Oklahoma where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and met the love of his life, Jean. It was love at first sight, and the two married less than a year after they met. From that point on everything they did, they did together. His father-in-law, Vernon, introduced Don Ed to the homebuilding business in 1960. Jean and Don Ed were an incredible team and used his building skills and her incredible eye to create some of the most timeless and beautiful homes in Edmond and Oklahoma City over the next seven decades. Don Ed said there hasn’t been a single home he has built that Jean hasn’t been a huge part of. Don Ed always had an innate eye for quality and detail.

They brought their first daughter, Dedee Bliss Blaik, home in 1964. They had their second daughter, Amy Lee Hammons, in 1967. When their oldest daughter was around eight years old, she took a great interest in riding horses. It was then that Don Ed and Jean’s love began revolving around riding and showing Quarter Horses. They lived their "cowboy lifestyle" at home as well. Maintaining a barn full of horses, cats, dogs, and a whole lot of colorful dialogue. They never shied away from the dirty behind the scenes work that the lifestyle demanded. Jean and Don Ed said the work caring for their horses kept them young. Don Ed was inducted into The Oklahoma Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2022.

Don Ed is leaving behind a legacy of incredible homes throughout the metro, as well as some of the most quick-witted (and sarcastic) one-liners. He was very proud of his full head of salt and peppered hair and tanned Native skin; he would want to be remembered by what a sharp-dressed “cutie” he was. There’s nothing he was prouder of, though, than being married to Jean. His family has peace that he is reunited, once again, with his blue-eyed beauty on their horses in the sky.

Don Ed is survived by his two daughters, Dedee Bliss Blaik (partner Bob) and Amy Lee Hammons (husband Robert). Their grandchildren, Amanda Pendarvis Lacy (husband Michael), Robert “Bo” Earl Blaik, Blaik Hammons, Brian Downing Blaik, and his great-grandsons, Waylon James Lacy and Townes Downing Lacy.

A funeral service for Don will be held Wednesday, January 22, 2025 at 1:00 PM at Hahn-Cook/Street & Draper, 6600 Broadway Extension, Oklahoma City, OK 73116.