Mr.Wood and I would like to extend our sympathy to you on the loss of your father and grandfather. We miss seeing him come and go from his home in Baraboo,and at the local grocery store or running into him at St.Vincents where he was looking for some bargains. May GOD bless you and keep you in his loving care,may HE calm your sorrows. (read Psalms 147:3)

                                                                                                           Gene & Virginia Wood,Baraboo,WI.

I met Gene many years ago, and I was instantly drawn by his sense of humor. A quick quip, a laugh, and a friendship was born. 

That friendship flowered in (among other things), a decades-long service in public office. There were many visions worth pursuing, but the common thread through them all was his love of others - all others. 

Gene applied his keen vision, his wit, his time, his effort, and sometimes, his tears. All freely given, as if he had a lifetime to give for his community. As it turns out, he did. 

Thank you Gene, on behalf of all the citizens of Sauk County and your city of Baraboo who can only guess at the depth and involvement of your committment. 

And thanks for your gift of friendship through it all. 

Bill

Thinking of the Robkin family this weekend as they gather to "lay  Gene to rest."  

Wait a minute, here!  Gene was not one to rest.  

He was always working to make things better . . . for Rochelle (well, the kitchen remodeling was a bit of a challenge--it only lasted almost forever), for Mike and Dave,  Dalia, Laura,  the grandkids, for the City of Baraboo, for Sauk County, for the Badger landscape.  

Let the laughter (he would have required it) and the tears (he would have avoided them)  flow.  

Best way ever to honor our friend.

My uncle Gene was a character. He was intelligent, witty, and interested in jokes, minutia of any and every subject, puzzles, mysteries, and inconsistencies between his world view and the reality in front of him. He was truly empathetic and cared about his fellow humans. He was more than a bit OCD. He taught math for his paycheck, but his true lifelong vocation combined all of the above qualities and brought them to bear in a compounding synergy : he worried. Like a champ. About big things and small.
He worried for the future of our planet. 
He worried about the future of Baraboo.
He worried about his family.
He worried if there would be time to eat enough Indian food on his visits to the Bay Area, seeing as there was none to be found to his standards in Wisconsin.
And for anyone who has ever received a package in the mail from my uncle Gene, you are intimately familiar with what I have always seen as the most tangible symbol of the combination of his worry and his love: those packages themselves. Often arriving unsuspected, after the hour or two it took to get through the layers of finely engineered re-purposed household oddities that encased the contents so as they would survive the apocalypse he must have imagined the postal service to be, was inevitably  a hand picked treasure for you. A symbol of his love and caring, wrapped in his irascible but well meaning, and ultimately eminently practical, worry.
I'll miss those packages almost as much as your jokes, Uncle Gene. Thank you for each and every one of them.

Following years of knowing Gene and Rochelle, I saw them, sitting near us, at an event in the campus cafeteria.  Gene was wearing a special protective mask over his mouth and nose.  His eyes smiled and we exchanged waves.  I didn't know the reason for the mask; he looked glad to be there, and I sensed there had been a medical accomplishment.  Years later, when my own spouse was sporting the same type of special mask, I thought of Gene, and the smiling eyes, and what had appeared as courage, amid friends.  It helped me grasp the future.   

I will always remember Gene’s love of books, his curiosity about the world and how it worked, and that he had an opinion about everything. He was passionate and deeply concerned about the world and its fate. He loved good food, intelligent company, and finding treasures in any thrift store he went past.  Dave and I joked that we could never tell what Gene would send us: we would get boxes of his latest finds that could include anything from fine cutlery to intriguing mechanical devices to a package of drywall screws. We shared many stories, meals, books, jokes, and good and bad times. He encouraged my art and work in a way that touched and surprised me. It was so difficult for him after Rochelle died, and I think he truly wished he had gone first.

For decades, your parents were at every progressive political event that we were at, so we got to know them well, mainly through those contacts. Though he continued to carry out his duties as a concerned citizen until the end, these last two years were tough for him.  He missed your mother deeply and was so ill himself.  We were so happy for him that he was able to spend so much time with his very loved sons and families in California.  Michael and David, as we're sure you know, your parents were both brilliant people and great Baraboo community supporters.  They are missed.  We find solace in knowing that they are now re-united on the other side of the thin veil that separates our world from the after life.  With our heartfelt sympathy, Sue and  Tom Holmes

I served on the Baraboo Community Development Authority Board with Gene. He was wise, practical, and compassionate. He and Rochelle inspired me as community leaders and volunteers. I am grateful to have known them. My condolences to David,Michael, and the family.

My favorite memory of Gene will always be his charming grin combined with his most mischievous eyes. Beyond this I will remember his love of food. Michael is a wonderful cook and Gene always looked forward to any occasion Michael was cooking at...even the high school graduation brunches we had for our kids. While at Laura and Laurie's wedding party, Michael and Gene spent a good part of the evening talking food and restaurants. I even remember when Rochelle was in hospice we went to see her...we brought Gene a batch of Mike's soup. Gene left me to visit with Rochelle while he and Mike walked down to the kitchen so he could warm up a bowl. It made Michael so very happy to have his food so appreciated. He was a delightful man who savored life. 

Uncle Gene had a particular sparkle in his eye for me. He always treated me with so much respect and I had the feeling that he thought I had something special in me, some kind of greatness that he could see. He’s wicked smart, but he never acted as if he thought I was less smart. I loved making him laugh. Uncle Gene has a great laugh and incredible eyebrows. Another thing that I found special about Gene is that I felt he was absolutely truthful with me. A lot of people hide but when I asked him something pointedly about how he was feeling or what he was thinking, he was very real with me. When I stayed there in the summer, as a kid, he also made it perfectly clear that he expected more from me than the average bear and he would suffer no fool. In an extended family who find some emotions tricky (his and my family), he let me love him, and I am honored by that. I’m sad for the loss of Gene for our families and for the world, but I’m happy he’s reunited with Aunt Ro. XO

We'd always see Gene at St Vinnie’s looking for some little gadget he could do something with. I liked his practical and quirky way of thinking. It was never a word or two, always paragraphs. Frank loved talking with Gene. They have a lot in common. Gene and Rochelle were icons in Baraboo, and were generous with their time and more. They are missed.

Gene reminded me to open my eyes to life. To stay curious, to keep learning, to keep pushing myself to grow.  He did this by showing up prominently – but never aggressively – at transitional moments.
When I was starting my tenure at UW-Baraboo/Sauk County, Gene proposed we collaborate on a course. (We didn’t - all due to my not being ready to meet his challenge). When we launched the Summerset Festival, Gene and Rochelle were there, supporting the program with ideas, advice, loyal attendance, and the commissioning of unique and talented artists like Laura Brody. Gene drove to Milwaukee to pick up some SS Uniform costumes for our production of Good – a play that deepened the substance of our productions on campus. He was at my wedding when my spouse and I got married as soon as same sex marriage was legal. There was never any doubt that he supported and cared for us.
When my spouse Laurie and I went to visit Rochelle in hospice, we were afraid. Afraid of her transition, afraid to say good-by, afraid of not knowing how to comfort Gene somehow. He comforted us – and so did Rochelle. Her room was filled with grace – a grace that was radiating out of both Rochelle and Gene. He told us not to be afraid to come close, to touch, to whisper our love and gratitude.

Gene Robkin was an exceptionally gifted man worthy of admiration in many respects. Condolences to his family.

OBITUARY

Gene Robkin

September 8, 1937 – June 20, 2018

Groman Eden Mortuary

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