Dr. Van Millett Robinson

City, Mo.

Van was born Oct. 20, 1926 in Kansas City, Mo. He was named for his maternal grandfather,

George Van Millett, a well-known local artist. As the son and grandson of psychiatrists, it was

generally thought that one day he might follow in that line of work.

Van did not take up medicine as his first career, but instead pursued his lifelong passion for

sports. He attended Pembroke Country Day School and Bryant Elementary before moving to

Florida where he graduated at 16 from Clearwater High School. Van played football, baseball and

golf. His writing talents and interest in sports guided him toward sports journalism.

In 1943, he enrolled at the University of Missouri to study journalism and joined Phi Delta Theta

Fraternity. He played varsity football in 1943 and 1944. “I was a 165-lb end,” he recalled. “I would

not be big enough to be water boy now.” His biggest moment as a Tiger came in 1944 when he

intercepted an Oklahoma pass and ran for 60 yards setting MU up to tie the game. The Kansas

City Star attributed the play to “Stan” Robinson, an error that remained in the stat books for

more than 65 years until officially corrected by MU in 2008. Van claimed to be one of the oldest

members of the Mizzou Letterwinners Club.

He left college to serve for two and a half years in the armed forces during WWII. He spent a year

in the Navy in the Gulf of Mexico preparing for the invasion of Japan, then was released to the

Army to attend West Point. During the six months of preparatory work for the Academy, he

realized he just wanted to write about sports, so in 1947 he returned to MU to complete his

degree.

A natural leader, Van was among the select students “tapped” to join Omicron Delta Kappa, one

of Mizzou’s secret honorary societies. He graduated in 1949 with a bachelor of journalism and

joined the display advertising staff of the Burlington, Iowa, Gazette.

Two years later after returning to Kansas City, his good friend James B. Nutter set him up with

Margaret Granger, a recent KU graduate. They were married in 1952. Shortly after, Van felt the

call of his medical heritage and started pre-med classes at night while working in advertising for a

grocery chain.

Van was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1953. He was president

of his class and graduated with honors in 1958. He remained at Penn for his internship and

residency in obstetrics and gynecology.

After two years of private practice in obstetrics and gynecology in Modesto, Calif., he returned to

Kansas City, North, where he became one of the first university-trained, board-certified obstetrics

and gynecology specialists in the Northland. In 1967, he formed Robinson, Slaughter and Triplett

women’s healthcare.

During his medical career, he was chief of surgery, chief of obstetrics and gynecology, and a board

of trustees and executive committee member at North Kansas City Hospital. He also provided

leadership on the board of directors of the American Royal Association, the Episcopal Church of

the Good Shepherd, Clay County Court’s Sheltered Facilities Board and Mercantile Bank of Clay

County.

Van was known as a thorough, no-nonsense physician whose rapport and availability for his

patients extended into many family dinners and late nights in the delivery room. He brought

more than 3,000 babies into the world in his 30 years of practice. He also specialized in

gynecological surgery.

A loyal supporter of Mizzou football, Van enjoyed his season tickets for many years and always

had an opinion about next year’s prospects. He never met a cable sports channel he didn’t love

and as his wife often remarked, “If there’s a women’s softball game being played in Bolivia, he’ll

watch it.”

In addition to hunting and fishing, his favorite hobby was gardening. He could turn apartment

balconies, back yards and Arizona deserts into productive farmland for his prolific harvests of

homegrown tomatoes.

In 1983, Van retired from medicine, and he and Margaret moved to Carefree, Ariz. He enjoyed

golf and desert gardening and served as vice-mayor of Carefree from 1987 to 1991.

But after eight years of retirement, Van returned to medicine. “I just felt that I had this wonderful

training and experience and that I was doing nothing with it. It was wonderful the first two or

three years, but you can’t live on golf alone.”

So at 64, Van went back into full-time practice of obstetrics and gynecology with the Odell Avenue

Medical Clinic in Marshall, Mo. After four years in Marshall, he returned to Arizona and

continued working as a locum tenens physician providing obstetrics services on several Native

American reservations and at the Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island.

Van and Margaret moved back to Parkville, Mo., in 2000 to be closer to family and enjoyed their

second retirement in a close community of friends at the National Golf Club. They had a 66-year

adventure that included four children, nine grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, nine dogs,

15 address changes and the patience required for unions of MU and KU alumni.

Van was preceded in death by his wife Margaret Granger Robinson. He is survived by his children

Van M. Robinson, Jr. and wife, Polly, Phoenix, (Van M. III, Mackenzie), Matthew G. Robinson

and wife, Susan, Prairie Village, Kan. (Molly and Scott Koenigsdorf, Virginia and Greg Tanquary),

Mona Robinson Gauer and husband, Rob, Kansas City, Mo. (Laura and Enrico Bermudez, Joseph

and Kathryn Gauer, Matthew), and Amy Robinson Weber and husband, Dan, Marshall, Mo.

(Mason and Andjela Weber, Kyle); and eight great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be at 9 am on March 4, 2022 at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, 415 W. 13th St.,

Kansas City, Mo., followed by a memorial service at 10 am. A reception follows the service in

Founders’ Hall. Private interment will be at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.

Donations may be made in memory of Van M. Robinson to the Tiger Scholarship Fund, 1

Champions Drive, Suite 200, Columbia, Mo. 65211.