Duleth Roberts Boxx

Duleth Christelle Roberts Boxx, 93, of Plantation, Florida passed away on July 10, 2023, in Sanford, Florida surrounded by her three daughters, Robin, Julie and Jill.

Her first name was a challenge from the day she was born. No one could ever pronounce or spell it correctly, so she eventually adopted the nickname “Dulie,” which fit her perfectly.

Dulie was born on October 18, 1929, in a little farmhouse in Atkinson County, Georgia, to Daniel Clarence and Gladys Metts Roberts. From an early age she learned to work hard on the family’s tobacco farm, laboring in the fields, stringing tobacco, driving a tractor, gathering eggs, feeding the pigs, harvesting crops, picking blackberries, and, routinely, wringing a chicken’s neck and plucking the feathers to prepare it for dinner that day. The demands of farm life formed the foundation for the strong work ethic she maintained until the day she died. The ultimate sin in her mind was to be lazy. And she made sure her family knew it!

Dulie was popular in high school and played basketball for her high school basketball team, known as the “Basket Bombers.” She was a good dancer and loved to sing, especially tragic ballads about death and despair, like "Rosewood Casket" which she would sing with gusto.

After graduating from Pearson High School in 1946, at the age of 17, she went to Jacksonville, Florida to attend business school and live on her own. She became a certified comptometer operator, which was the first key-driven calculator. She was a wiz with numbers. Weeks before her death, even with a fading memory, she could count backwards from 100-1 in rapid-fire fashion. After completing business school, she worked for Merrill Stevens Dry Dock and Repair in Jacksonville, in the accounting department.

While attending church one Sunday in Jacksonville, she met Bernie Boxx, who was home on a college break. He was so smitten with her that he borrowed another girl’s car, put Dulie in the front seat and the other girl in the back and drove Dulie home. He proposed not too long after meeting her, but she stalled for about 3 years, continuing to date a number of other boys while Bernie did his best to win her heart. After the couple married on August 20, 1950, they made their home in Miami, Florida where Bernie was on a football scholarship at the University of Miami. His love for her never faded and on Valentine’s Day one year, after more than 40 years of marriage, she was stunned to see a giant billboard along the side of the road that simply read, “Bernie Loves Dulie” in big bold letters.

While in Miami, Dulie worked for a car dealership and then for Nabisco before the family moved to Plantation, Florida in 1965. She was a working mother long before it was acceptable and managed to work all day, cook and clean after work, and sew well into the wee hours of the night making her girls beautiful dresses to wear. After moving to Broward County, she began working for City Computing Services as a comptometer operator but rose to become the regional manager for the company. She eventually helped expand that business to include Girl Friday Temporary, a temporary staffing service.

Once their girls were grown, Dulie and Bernie moved up to the Deltona area for Bernie’s job and she opened her own temporary staffing company there for a short time before retiring. After moving back to Plantation in 1995, Bernie died suddenly, so Dulie went back to work at the age of 65, working in the jewelry departments of Luria’s and then Macys until she was 79. Dulie often worked two jobs, because she said she didn’t want to be a “bum” and it was good to be busy.

She sacrificed and worked long hours to make sure her three daughters had an education. She made it clear to her girls that graduating from college was required. Her daughters obeyed and loved to remind their mother that she was a woman with six college degrees--three bachelor’s, two master’s and a law degree because she was the one who made them possible.

She loved to learn and continued to learn throughout her life. She was smart, and quick to pick up new skills. She even transitioned from an Android to an Iphone in her 90s. She loved literature and the arts and was an avid reader. She made books come alive when she read to her family. During dinner it was common for her to quiz her girls about current affairs and world events. (What do you think about SALT? Salt? Yes, SALT—Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty! Really, Mom???)

Dulie was an expert seamstress, and fabulous cook. Her out of this world fried chicken could not be replicated though many tried. Nor could her cinnamon rolls, pound cake, cheese grits, country fried steak with milk gravy or strawberry shortcake. She was also skilled in fixing a “buhritta.” She was fun to be around and would get the giggles about the silliest things. Once her giggles started it was hard for her to stop and impossible not to join in.

She had boundless energy until right before the end and could never sit still. She walked 4 miles a day up until the last couple of years and continued to volunteer at the Plantation Library until she was 90. She was independent, brave, quirky, funny, glamorous, endearing and wise.

Dulie loved french fries, the beach, Hallmark movies, apple fritters and any kind of sweet. She loved children, yard sales, Twinkies and infomercials. She loved Elvis, Big Band music and Eric Clapton. She loved plants and working in the yard. Her favorite go to meal for herself was a Diet Coke (with a straw!) and a pack of malt crackers. She had genteel Southern manners but could handle a saw and hammer like a pro and was even caught with a chainsaw after Hurricane Irma just before her 88th birthday.

She was a force of nature and if she was on your side, it didn’t matter if the whole world was against you. And if she wasn’t—look out! Her family will miss getting birthday cards with $1 inside and having her hang up the phone almost as soon as she answered because she’s busy and had things to do. (She would then call another family member to brag that you called.)

She was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was a pioneer for her faith. Dulie was the great-granddaughter of two of the very first members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Georgia, opening the way for the growth of the Church in the South. She was present at the formation of the first stake of the Church in the South at a conference held in Jacksonville in 1947. She fulfilled numerous responsibilities of service and leadership in the Church throughout her life and made service to others her central focus.

To the very end of her life, she always wanted to help. Even when she needed help herself, her most common question to those around her was, “What can I do for you?” Just hours before her passing in the ICU, even though she was in pain, she asked her girls if she could get them a Coke and fix them a sandwich. She always put others first. Dulie had a firm, unwavering testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and lived its principles. A part of her legacy is that she now has great-grandchildren, following the same principles she lived by, who are 7th generation members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her example of faith and service remained firm to the end.

She was a class act through and through. And just like her name, there will never be another one like her.

Dulie is survived by her daughters, Robin Farnsworth (Ken), of Davie, Florida; Julie Boyle, of South Jordan, Utah; Jill Smith (David), of Orange City, Florida; her sister, Alphine James, of Cross City, Florida; her brothers, Larry Roberts, of Broxton, Georgia and Danny Roberts, of Pearson, Georgia; eleven grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her beloved spouse, Bernie Boxx; her parents, Daniel Clarence and Gladys Metts Roberts, her sister, Waunelle Purvis, and her son-in-law, Tom Boyle.

A private graveside service for the family of Duleth will be held Thursday, July 20, 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Deltona Memorial Funeral Home, 1295 Saxon Blvd, Orange City, FL 32763.

Here is a link to a brief slideshow of the life of Duleth Roberts Boxx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teU3L-yyAL4