Shirley Ann Robinson

Shirley Ann Robinson (née Brandhorst) passed away on Sunday, April 27th, at the age of 66, after a five-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Shirley was born in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on December 8th, 1958. The eldest child of Robert Brandhorst, a highway maintenance worker with the Colorado Department of Transportation, and Eugenie Brandhorst, a school dietary manager, Shirley and her family moved from Steamboat Springs first to Grand Junction, then to Leadville, before finally settling in Fruita.

She graduated from Fruita Monument High School in 1977, concentrating in accounting and mathematics. While finishing her studies, she was hired at Capco, where she worked for 4 years. She then joined Family Health West in 1981, dutifully serving as head of Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable for 35 years.

Shirley met Kim Robinson at their church’s singles mixer in April of 1988. After a brief courtship, Kim proposed in January of 1989, and the couple were wed on October 21st of that year. The couple welcomed their daughter Kymberlie Marie on July 21st, 1993. Their son Michael Stuart was born on December 9th, 1995. The Robinson family resided in Fruita for 31 years before Shirley’s deteriorating health necessitated that they downsize and move to Grand Junction in 2020, where Shirley resided until her passing.

Shirley’s greatest passion in life was serving others, whether through her church, her job, or driving her theatrically-inclined children to rehearsals five nights a week. She opened her heart and home to five foreign exchange students for weeks or even a year at a time, loving and caring for them as if they were her own. Shirley also enjoyed camping at her family’s campsite at Arrowhead, gardening, and traveling. She led the Robinson family on road trips across America to Yellowstone, Seattle, the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, and her favorite destination, Disneyland, California – to name just a few. She always had her camera around her neck, snapping countless photographs of the beautiful sights they saw. She made her last trip to Disneyland just 7 weeks before her passing.

Shirley was very close not only with her immediate family, but with many extended relations as well. She now joins many of them in Heaven, including her parents, grandparents, and several aunts, uncles, and cousins, including her Aunt Helen and Uncle Clyde, Aunt Marie and Uncle Jim, and more. She is survived by her husband and children, her two brothers, Thomas (Deborah) and Robert, six nieces and nephews and their families, and numerous cousins and other relatives. Shirley will be cremated and her ashes scattered at Arrowhead to rest alongside her parents. A memorial service will be held at Messiah Lutheran Church on Saturday, May 3 at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, her family asks that you consider donating either to the church where Shirley faithfully served and worshipped for 40 years (lutheranchurchandschoolofmessiah.org), or to the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) to help end the devastating disease that took Shirley and countless others far too soon.

“When my feeble life is o'er/ Time for me will be no more/ Guide me gently, safely o'er/ To Thy kingdom's shore…” – Patsy Cline