Chris Roundtree & Libby Roundtree

Chris Roundtree & Libby Roundtree
By Erica Roundtree

Chris Roundtree, age 53, and his beloved daughter Libby, 17, of Marietta, were killed by a wrong-way driver in a car accident on June 26, 2021, in Dublin, Georgia. Chris and his wife, Erica, have another wonderful daughter, Cate, who is 20. 

Chris and Erica are from Florida, and they lived in Marietta since they were first married in 1995. He was a civil engineer and worked for C.W. Matthews Contracting Co. for 26 years. Libby was a rising senior at Lassiter High School, where she was a straight-A student and loved dearly by her tight-knit group of friends.   

Libby started playing soccer around the age of 4 or 5 for her church league. She played for Rush, NASA Tophat and her high school team at Lassiter. At an early age, a great coach told her she was made to be a defender with her back to the keeper, and she played that position throughout her soccer career. She was gifted at seeing the whole field, making smart passes, protecting her keeper and staying cool under pressure. It was a rare occurrence, but her dad said she played her best when she got mad on the pitch. It took a whole lot to make her mad, usually seeing a teammate hurt or treated unfairly. She thought of every soccer team she was on as a little family, and the thing she loved most about soccer were the friendships. 

Chris and Erica rarely missed one of Libby’s games, and they took great pleasure in cheering her on and watching her play in every kind of weather. Their game chairs were worn thin.

Chris was a soccer player himself as a kid, and he took a strong interest in his daughter’s development. They bonded over dissecting the game afterward and talking about ways to improve her play. Libby was incredibly coachable and a devoted team player. When she made the LHS soccer team in 9th grade, Chris volunteered to announce the home games and loved the birds-eye view of the action. They both became certified to become club soccer referees, and they worked games together. Chris’ interest in refereeing grew to a point that he became certified to ref local high school games and loved doing that the year before he died. Like his daughter, he was always looking for ways to improve himself and took on the often-difficult job of the referee with humility, grace and enthusiasm.

Outside of soccer, Chris and Libby also shared a love of the outdoors. He took both of his daughters hiking often and the three of them accomplished hiking the entire Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail. We are grateful for all the memories that we have as a family, and so many of them revolve around soccer.