William Ervin Robbins

Bill went to be with his savior, peacefully in his sleep, Monday December 20th. Bill was born in Columbia Heights, November 26th, 1925. He graduated from Columbia Heights High School in 1943. He worked for the Soo Line until he was drafted in 1944. He volunteered for the Marine Corps and served on Truk and Wake Islands. After his honorable discharge he used the GI bill to get a degree in mathematics from Augsburg College. He taught math at Clarissa and Tracy high schools. In 1961 he accepted a missionary position and, for 8 years, he taught math and spread the word of God, at Magamba Secondary School in Tanzania. In Magamba he is remembered as Baba wa Magamba. He returned to Minneapolis and taught math at Bryant Jr Hight School, and later, at Ramsey Jr High. After retiring from teaching, he drove for Metro Transit and worked with the disabled. Bill was preceded in death by his wife Eunice, his daughter Becky, and his brothers John and Kenneth. Bill is survived by his children Tim, John, Debbie (Vogel), Ruth (Brown), Mike, Rachel (Adams), and 9 beloved grandchildren.He was 96 years old. A celebration of our dad’s life will be held at Zion Lutheran Church, 128 W 33rd St. Minneapolis, on Saturday January 8th, at 11:00 AM. In leu of flowers, gifts and memorials can be sent in his name to Operation Bootstrap Africa.