Leaf Roberts, staunch booster of Sebastopol's sister city program, has passed away
A life of community service and friends made around the world
Leaf Roberts, 84, of Sebastopol, California, passed away on Oct. 20, 2025, at her home surrounded by loved ones. A lifelong resident of Sonoma County, Leaf was known for her warmth, faith and tireless spirit.
She worked as a registered nurse at Sonoma Development Center for 43 years.
She met Wilbur Roberts, her husband of 45 years, while dancing with the Saucy Squares in Sebastopol. Leaf and Will were anchor members of the square-dancing club, and they reinvigorated the Sebastopol Saucy Squares in the 1970s after the death of the club caller and founder, Joe Paul. They were involved in acquiring the old Campfire Girls Hut on Parquet Street, which was dismantled and re-built into a new clubhouse, Wischemann Hall, located on Morris Street.
Leaf was a dedicated member of the Sebastopol United Methodist Church, as well as co-pastor of the Good Samaritan Community Church of Sebastopol until its closing, where she ran the woman’s program of the Covenant Connection.
Leaf and her husband, Will, were founding members of Sebastopol World Friends, which was formed in 1985 to coordinate programs and exchanges between Sebastopol and its newly established sister city, Yamauchi, Japan. As a founding member, she began organizing middle school exchanges with Yamauchi. It started with just a few students and adults, but over the years, thousands of students and their families as well as other community members in both towns have enjoyed the experiences and benefits of international exchange and friendships.
In 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Leaf was a strong advocate for establishing a sister city relationship with a city in Ukraine. Hence the sister city relationship with Chyhyryn, Ukraine, was established in 1993. Cultivating the relationship with Chyhyryn became one of her lifelong passions.
Leaf had many friends in both of Sebastopol’s sister cities. She traveled to both cities many times, building long-lasting friendships. Leaf’s closest connection to Chyhyryn was her friendship with Lyudmila and Ivan Birko, founders of Friends of Chyhyryn. Over the years, Leaf, Will and other Sebastopol World Friends members hosted two of the Birko’s children while they attended high school here. The families remain close friends.
She also wrote and won several grants for Sebastopol World Friends over the years that helped deepen the connections between Sebastopol and its sister cities.
“Leaf always supported our programs, showed up at our events and took scores of photos, although she never liked to have her own picture taken,” said Sebastopol World Friends’ Beth Lamb. “She is remembered by countless travelers, imploring them to make scrapbooks for their guests, creating scrapbook pages back in the days of real photos on paper. She could be counted on to run the Sebastopol World Friends silent auction at our annual Friendship Dinner. Leaf helped make Sebastopol World Friends what it is today, and her spirit will be with us with every hosting and exchange we run. She embodied the spirit of Sebastopol World Friends—World Peace, One Friend at a Time.”
In addition to her work with Sebastopol World Friends, Leaf will be remembered for wearing a flower in her hair and her love of reading, photography, genealogy, scrapbooking, and playing Scrabble at the Sebastopol Senior Center.
She is survived by her three children: Kathy Minthorne (husband Lloyd, children Thomas, Ryan, and Crystal), Ken Roberts (children Gemma and Will), and Kim Sullivan (children Harrison and Hunter), one stepson Dave Roberts (wife Kelly and family), and her two siblings, brother Mark Ludwig and sister Marcia Boren.
A celebration of life will be held at the Sebastopol United Methodist Church on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 11 am, with a reception to follow.