Roberta Tiller
Passed away peacefully on July 1st, 2025, surrounded by family. Roberta was the daughter of the late Mary & Charles Murray of Haddonfield NJ. She is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Lynne and Paul Chapman, her niece Gillian Chapman and great niece and nephew.
After Roberta retired from retail, she lived a peaceful life perusing her many hobbies, including collecting every photograph of her great niece and nephew, preserving family history, and completing every jigsaw puzzle she could lay her hands on. She was also an avid animal lover and lifetime member of the Philadelphia Zoo.
Roberta’s niece Gillian wrote the following, which summarizes our love for Roberta.
The world lost a wonderful person, wonderful sister, wonderful friend, and to me a wonderful aunt. Roberta Tiller, or as I have always called her, Bucky. She was born 6/25/47 and passed away peacefully, surrounded by family 7/1/25. To say that was too soon, too unexpected, too unfair would be too little of a statement. She left behind so many friends and family, and I hope we will find comfort someday in the knowledge that she did not suffer, it was simply her time.
She was a great supporter of all animals. She always had cats, usually littermates. Her most recent cats, Ben and Jerry will be thrilled to be reunited. When I was a child I would spend the night while my parents stayed with my Grandmother, I thought it was the coolest to have a sleepover at Bucky’s. We would order pizza, watch Disney movies and have ice-cream. The only negative was her cats before Ben and Jerry never really liked outsiders and they would stare at me from the threshold as I slept…very unsettling.
She was a lifelong supporter of the Philadelphia Zoo. Some of my favorite childhood memories were with Bucky at the Zoo. We would make a day of it, we had a very specific path we would walk, one that hit all our favorite animals, even her favorite tree, but always missing the reptile house. We would linger forever at the Giraffes, those were Bucky’s favorite. She would chat with each one like long lost friends. She would always call me with updates of the upcoming events, and new animals at the zoo. She knew all the animals’ names and would be a little miffed that I didn’t remember it was Rita, the cheetah’s birthday. Sorry Rita.
Bucky will always live on in my fantastic memories of our time together. But it is funny how the little stuff is really where I truly miss her. For example, she would follow every flight I took. She would pester me for my itinerary and then literally watch my fight go across the country. No matter where I landed, there was always a welcome email before I got off the plane. Or a “wow that is a long layover hope you have something to do” email. I never really appreciated that little communication of caring until I flew this past weekend and there was no email…it truly is the little things that a person does that makes the biggest impact in another’s life.
I urge us all to find something little to do for someone else daily. If we all can make someone’s day a little better then Bucky will truly live on forever. Because that is her legacy, her kindness and compassion for everyone and everything.
I hope she knows how much she truly meant to me and to my family, and how truly missed she will be. Remember the good and take time to tell your loved ones how much they truly mean to you. In lieu of flowers, donations in Roberta’s name may be made to the Philadelphia Zoo (https://www.philadelphiazoo.org/) or Animal Welfare Association in Voorhees, NJ. (https://www.awanj.org/).