Arthur Robinson
Feb. 2, 1921-Dec. 25, 2004
Arthur Robinson, age 83, of Sassafras Lane, Niles, Michigan, died on Saturday, December 25, 2004, at Hospice at Home "The Meadows", Buchanan, Michigan following an extended illness.
Mr. Robinson was born on February 2, 1921, in Detroit, Michigan to Dr. Arthur D. and Lena M. (Lilley) Robinson. He was the eldest of three sons, with brothers, Don W. and Bruce J. Robinson. He spend this youth in Detroit, graduating from Cooley High School where he played hockey and football. For many summers, he attended YMCA Camp Hayo-Went-Ha, and learned to sail and canoe on Torch Lake.
Arthur was a 1943 graduate of the University of Michigan, where hde was a member of the Chi Psi fraternity. After graduation, he entered midshipman school at Notre Dame University and was subsequently commissioned an ensign in the Naval Reserve. He married Frances Capps, his college sweetheart, in Detroit on September 24, 1943.
Assigned to Attach Transport #49, the U.S.S. Ormsby, Arthur served landing craft duty in the Pacific Theater. The Ormsby and her crew saw action at Peliliu and Leyte Gulf, and were involved in the relocation of the Chinese National 1st Army to Taiwan after the War. He was discharged from the U.S. Naval Reserve with the rank of Lieutenant (j.g.).
After the War, Art was employed by Wyandotte Chemicals and lived with Fran and their children on Gross Ile, Michigan until they moved to Niles in 1959. He worked at Electro-Voice in Buchanan until 1970, and then began a 30+ year career in real estate. As a realtor and broker with Morden/Modern Reality, Art was the top sales associate in 1976 and achieved the Senior Million Dollar Club numerous times. Arthur's community-minded spirit kept him active in various organizations in Niles. He was a member and two-term president of the Niles-Buchanan Club of Rotary International and a Paul Harris Fellow. He served as Chair of the Niles City Republican Party from 1967 to 1974. He was actively involved in the passage of a new city charter and served on the zoning Board of Appeals. Art was a member of the Greater Niles Community Development Corporation Board of Directors which sponsored the North Fifth Street revitalization project.
As a longtime parishioner of Trinity Episcopal Church, Arthur served several terms as a vestryman and was Senior Warden in 1984. For more than forty years, Art was also a steadfast member of the choir's bass section.
Art had a life-long love for sailing, golf, music, and U. of M. football. Both Camp Hayo-Went-Ha and the University of Michigan benefited from his support.
Art's love of people and outgoing personality will be well remembered in his community. He is survived by his wife, Frances of Niles; his daughters, Sally Lister (Thomas) of Black River Falls, Wisconsin and Martha White (Douglas) of Westbrook, Connecticut; and five grandsons, Matthew Lister, M.D., Joshua Lister, and Alexander White, Benjamin White, and Nicholas White. His brother, Don W. Robinson, of Ann Arbor, Michigan also survives.
The Memorial Service for Arthur Robinson will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, December 28, 2004, at Trinity Episcopal Church, Niles, with the Reverend Franklin P. Schuster, III of the church officiating. The family will receive friends in the church hall immediately following the service.
Committal services will be on a later date at Silverbrook Cemetery, Niles, where the family will gather privately.
Arrangements are being completed by the Halbritter Funeral Home, Niles.
Contributions in memory of Arthur Robinson may be made to the church; to Hospice-at-Home; or to Fernwood Botanic Gardens.
Submitted by family member; publication details unknown