Barbara Lou (Lewis) Robinson

Barbara Lou Robinson (Lewis), 95, passed away on June 6, 2026, in Mechanicsville, Virginia.  She was born on December 10, 1930, to Ethel Lois Lewis (Snapp) and Palmer Kenneth Lewis in Oaktown, Indiana.  Barbara was an only child, whose mother was a housewife and father was a barbershop owner.  Through 6th grade, in Oaktown, Barbara participated in 4-H and Girl Scouts. She took both acrobatics and elocution classes during elementary school.  Her hobbies were embroidery, ponyback riding, and whittling.

When her father became the Manager of the Automotive Department at Montgomery Ward, her family moved to Vincennes, Indiana in 1941.  In Junior High, Barbara started playing clarinet and ascended to first chair clarinet in the High School Varsity Band.  She also played cello in the orchestra, performed in the Little Theater Group, was on the Vincennes Sentinel school newspaper, an Honor Society member, and voted onto the Homecoming Queen Court.

Barbara met her husband, Albert Robinson, when she was a high school senior.  Albert was attending Vincennes University. He frequently stopped by to visit Barbara when she worked in the band room.  Their dates were often dances at the Teen Canteen.  On June 18, 1948, the two eloped, getting married in Morganfield, Kentucky.   They were married for 75 years. 

In the autumn of 1948, Barbara began working at a Montgomery Ward Catalog Order store and eventually was employed on the assembly line at RCA.  This was all while Albert was pursuing his degree at Indiana University.  Barbara joked she earned her PHTC Degree (Putting Hubby Through College).  

She moved to Waco and Austin, Texas, when Albert was in the Air Force during the Korean War.   Relocating was common in her husband’s career. She lived in Princeton and South Bend, Indiana; Cincinnati, Ohio; Northridge, California; Sarasota, Florida, and Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Between February 1950 to May 1956, Barbara gave birth to four sons.  She was a very busy mother and housewife.  She volunteered at the boys’ schools, taught Sunday School, was a Den Mother, worked at the Sarasota South Gate Teen Club, and the YMCA, while her family was growing up.  

In January of 1967, Barbara enrolled at Eastern Michigan University and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Education, in 1970, graduating Summa Cum Laude.  She went on to obtain her Master’s Degree in Education in 1973.  Her teaching career began in Ann Arbor Public Schools, Burns Park Elementary in 1970.  She then worked at Haisley Elementary in 1978 until she retired in June 1991. During her years as a teacher, Barbara was a visiting lecturer at the University of Michigan, and often supervised student teachers.  She co-authored a Mathematics Activity Book, had an article published in a computer magazine, spoke at multiple State math conferences, and served as an Assistant Principal for the last seven years of her academic career.  

Once retired, Barbara loved traveling the country with Albert, in the couple’s Airstream Trailer, and eventually built a splendid custom home in Navarre, Florida.  While in Navarre, she was Secretary of the Navarre Garden Club, and active in Gulf Coast Friends, the Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church, and the Emerald Coast Women’s Club.  She was named Master Gardener of the Year in 1995 by the Santa Rosa County Extension Service.  In 2006, Barbara and Albert moved to the Magnolia Trace Community in Huntsville, Alabama, after living through two iconic hurricanes on Florida’s Gulf Coast.  She immediately became active in local Church work, as well as her community’s gardening, Dulcimer, and Book Clubs.  Her final move was to Mechanicsville, Virginia, to be closer to family. 

When Barbara found the time, she put her extraordinary crafting talents to work.  She made unique, personalized Christmas stockings for each of her eight grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.  Barbara crocheted/knitted multiple Afghans, created hundreds of needlepoint/embroidered holiday ornaments and Christian Cross bookmarks, as well as made her own greeting cards, to list just a few of her gifts.  

Some of her favorite sayings were:  “That’s no big deal.” “That’s not death or taxes.”, “That doesn’t add up to a hill of beans.” “It will all come out in the wash.”  “I can do that.” “There’s more than one way to get around the block.”, and from earlier in her life, “That’s just peachy - keeny.” Barbara once wrote - “Nothing really worthwhile can be attained except by honest labor, which I am willing to give.” She lived by those words.  

Above all, Barbara felt her greatest accomplishment was having and raising four remarkable boys.  She never missed an opportunity to share with perfect strangers, “I have four sons, Frank, Craig, Bruce and Rand….50, 51, 52 and 56” (using her fingers to illustrate).  When family overheard her, they smilingly clarified it was the years they were born, not their ages.   She couldn’t have loved them more or been more proud.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents and husband.  Survivors include her son’s - Frank Robinson (Raylene Jorgensen) of  Richmond, Virginia; Dr. Craig Robinson (Linda Burak) of Murrieta, California; Bruce Robinson (Sherry Peplau) of Canton, Michigan; and Rand Robinson of Keaau, Hawaii;  four grandsons - Travis Robinson (Jaime Ruiz);  Brent Robinson (Laura Vogel), Noel Robinson (Brittany Morhiser), and Justin Robinson (Kaitlyne Robinette); and, four granddaughters - Lauren Gardiner (Jeff); Brittany Kolb (Ryan); Blaire Dressler (Tim), and Chelsea Nugent (Patrick); four great grandsons, four great granddaughters, and three nieces (by marriage).

Barbara’s final resting place will be in Memorial Park Cemetery in Vincennes, Indiana.   Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at robinsonfl@aol.com.  

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