Robert Alan Robinson

Robert Alan Robinson

April 15, 1953 – March 23, 2019

Preceded in death by parents, Robert and Dollie; stepmother, Becky; son, Brent; grandson, Rowdy.  Survived by wife, Barbara; children: Bethany Yoch (Michael), Robert Robinson (Nora), Ryan Robinson, and Matthew Robinson (Nicole); grandchildren: Asher, Westin, Charlee, and Robert Ezekiel; sister, Carolyn Gardner (Dennis); mother-in-law, Phyllis Holton; sisters-in-laws, Natalie Clark and Kitty Whiteing.

A Celebration of Robert’s Life will be held on Saturday, March 30^th at 11am at Brookside Church, 11607 M. Circle, with family receiving friends from 10am to 11am.  Memorials may be directed to the family.

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In 1953 Robert Windle Robinson was stationed in the Navy on the East coast where he met a young lady named Dollie Virginia.  They fell in love and married, and Dollie gave birth to a handsome fellow they named Robert Alan.  Soon after, they moved back to Council Bluffs, Iowa and little sister, Carolyn, made her appearance.  Dad Robinson moved the family to Nebraska City for a chance at a better job for a few years; then, after his wife became ill, he decided it was time to be closer to family and moved back to Council Bluffs.  That’s about the time in fifth grade that Robert met the love of his life, Barbara.  Together he and Barbara started on a beautiful memory trail through all those wonderful school years.  They graduated together from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1971 and they married in December of 1973. 

Bob went on to Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.  He worked and went to school full time.  Along came our son, Brent, and daughter, Bethany.  Bob graduated in 1979 with a teaching degree and became a teacher in Newman Grove, Nebraska for four years—and along came our son, Robert.  Bob had a heart for God and for people, so we moved to Madison, Nebraska where he became the first pastor of a new little church—and along came our son, Ryan. 

In 1985 we moved to Norfolk, Nebraska so our children would be closer to the Christian school they were attending and Bob could get more spiritual training.  He was also building fiberglass pontoon boats, and then worked at Big Red Printing.  Our son, Matthew, made his appearance about this time and we stayed in Norfolk over 20 years.

One of the most difficult life experiences happened in 1997 when we lost our son, Brent, to cancer at age 21.  This changed our family’s life forever.  During these years we’ve added three more beautiful children with special hearts by marriage: Michael, Nora, and Nicole.

In 2008 Bob had a quadruple heart bypass and two stents.  We thought we might lose him, but God spared him and he had no more heart issues.  We moved back to Council Bluffs to help care for Barb’s dad who had Alzheimer’s, and Bob started working for Interstate Printing.  An extra special highlight in Bob’s life was the birth of each of our grandchildren: Asher, Westin, Charlee, Robbie Zeke, and baby Rowdy who was only with us for five days.  Bob is probably holding him now.

 We moved to Omaha in 2010; then, in November of 2017, Bob was diagnosed with cancer.  With a short prognosis, he set goals and pushed through all the treatments trying to encourage everyone else with all his jokes and positive attitudes because of his love for Jesus, family, and everyone else he met.  He was able to see the birth of our new grandson, Robbie, and celebrate two more big holidays, see our daughter-in-law graduate from nursing school, celebrate our 45^th wedding anniversary, and the added bonus of Matthew’s finishing college.

Bob always felt he was blessed.  He knew where he was going to spend eternity and was waiting to see Jesus’ face and hug our son again.  With his family by his side, he was able to meet his final goal.  We will love and miss him, but we know where he is and his love and faithfulness in sharing his faith and heart will bear eternal fruit forever.