Dwayne was born February 7, 1960 in Topeka, Kansas, where his father was stationed in the U.S. Air Force. The family, although originally from Texas, moved around a lot as most military families do. After his father retired in 1965, the family settled in Santa Ana, California. It was then that the family united with the Second Baptist Church of Santa Ana. Dwayne began his musical career at age 5 when he began singing with the Children’s Choir. While growing up, Dwayne’s mother, Marcelle Roberts, and older brother, Donny Roberts, were musicians at his church. They were both role models for him and helped to spark his interest in, and love for, gospel music. With two great musicians in the family, it was not a surprise when it was discovered that Dwayne also had a natural talent for playing the piano. At age 15 he was placed over the Young Adult Choir and led the choir in their first annual concert in December of 1976. Although the name of the choir has changed over the years, the church choir continues to have its annual concert the 2nd Sunday of December. While Dwayne unofficially took on the duties and responsibilities of Minister of Music at an early age, he was officially ordained as a Minister of Music by his pastor, Dr. John McReynolds, with a full ordination service in 1999. His brother Donny had been ordained a few years earlier.

Dwayne’s talent has grown over the years to include singer, musician and song writer. Several of his original music compositions have been recorded by artists such as the Los Angeles Gospel Messengers, Cory Briggs and O.C. Prayze, Bishop Yvette Flunder and the Fellowship 2000 Mass Choir, the Second Baptist Church Mass Choir, and Doretha Wade-Wilkerson and the Orange County Mass Choir. Other highlights of his career include serving as Musical Director for the funeral service of track star Florence Griffith Joyner (“Flo-Jo”), who was a member of his church at the time of her death in 1998; singing with the Los Angeles Gospel Messengers for seven years; appearing as guest soloist at the closing ceremony of the National Association for Court Management (NACM) in 2005 where his boss was sworn in as President; providing music for various organizations such as the Tri County District Association and the Western Baptist State Convention; presenting several of his original music compositions to the national Mass Choir and New Music Seminar at the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA) annual convention. Dwayne is a member of the Los Angeles Chapter of GMWA.

Growing up in Orange County, California, one of Dwayne’s dreams was to attend the University of California, at Irvine. He fulfilled this dream and graduated from U.C. Irvine in 1983 with a B.A. degree in Social Ecology (Criminal Justice), and a second B.A. in Humanities (Spanish), after having studied abroad in Mexico for a short period of time. In 1995, he received a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the California State University in Fullerton, California.

Dwayne has worked in the legal profession in Orange County since 1984. He has worked as a courtroom clerk, a supervisor, and manager for the Superior Court of California, County of Orange. He also served as the Assistant Deputy-In-Charge for the United States District Court Clerk’s Office in Santa Ana, as well as a Relief Courtroom Deputy. Dwayne retired from the state court in 2010, and from the federal court in 2018 with a total of 35 years of working.