Harry Edwin Robson

"Harry Edwin Robson passed away peacefully in his home in St. James Place in Baton Rouge on January 18, 2019. He was 91 years old. Born July 19, 1927 near Burlington, KS to Will Carlton Robson and Nellie Throckmorton Robson, Harry grew up in a farming family but left his rural roots for the US Navy, where he earned the rank of Second Lieutenant, J.G., and Kansas University, where he earned a PhD in Physical Chemistry. He moved to Baton Rouge in 1957 to join the research lab at Esso (later Exxon), remaining there until his first retirement in 1986. He spent the next six years consulting in the chemical industry and teaching at LSU. He was a pioneer in the field of zeolite synthesis, and he was instrumental in the formation of the International Zeolite Association. With his colleagues, he compiled and edited three books on zeolite synthesis. At the center of his life were his family and church. He and his wife Roberta were together nearly 65 years when she died in 2015, and he took greater pride in his children than in his many honors and accomplishments. He rarely missed a Sunday in fifty years at University Presbyterian Church, where he served as an elder. His work with the church at large included serving on the boards of Westminster Foundation and National Church Residences. He had a passion for justice which he exercised through planning, funding and building nonprofit senior housing in low-income communities. During a critical staff vacancy, he completed an 8-month term as Acting Interim General Presbyter for the Presbytery of South Louisiana. Harry's final years were devoted to duplicate bridge, physical fitness, and life writing. He is survived by three children: Edward Carl Robson, Martha Jean Robson, and Margaret Joyce Robson Graver, and six grandchildren. The family wishes to express their gratitude to Home Instead, Hospice of Baton Rouge and Assisted Living of St. James Place for all they did to ease his passing. A memorial service will be offered at University Presbyterian Church at 10:00 am on Saturday, February 2nd, with a reception following in the church parlor.