Robert Westmoreland Mayberry

Robert Westmoreland Mayberry, age 79, of Grand Haven, died on Friday, December 8, 2017. The son of Robert J. Mayberry and Minnie Lou Westmoreland Mayberry, Mr. Mayberry was born in New Jersey and grew up in New Rochelle, New York. He received degrees from Swarthmore College and Cornell University, and taught briefly at Penn State University before moving to Michigan to become a professor at Grand Valley State University. He taught communications and philosophy at Grand Valley until 2003, participating in many university committees as well as the academic senate. In addition to his teaching career, Mr. Mayberry was an expert in the wines of the Rhone Valley in southern France, where he frequently traveled, and published numerous articles on that wine region, as well as a book titled Wines of the Rhone Valley. For his writing and research on wine, he received a knighthood from the French Ministry of Agriculture in 1998. Mr. Mayberry is survived by his wife, Rosalind Srb Mayberry; his daughter, Katherine Mayberry, and son-in-law, Scott Lange; his brother-in-law, Jerome Srb; his cousin, David Kingston; an extended family network in other parts of the country; and many loving friends. The Mayberry family would like to thank the many home nurses and health care workers who helped Mr. Mayberry live a long, fulfilling life in spite of multiple sclerosis. A Memorial Service will be held for Mr. Mayberry at 3:30 p.m. on January 12 at the Cook Dewitt Center at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, followed by a brief reception with Mr. Mayberry's family. For those who would like to make donations in Mr. Mayberry’s memory, the family requests donations to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society - Michigan Chapter, and Blue Lake Public Radio.