Doris M. Robinson

Dee is survived by her devoted husband, Lynn Robinson; her son, Eric Robinson of Little Rock, Arkansas; her daughter, Lisa Thomas, and son-in-law, Merritt Thomas of Magnolia Texas; her step-daughter, Lynda Harrop; stepson-in-law, Gary Harrop of Katy, Texas; 5 grandsons and 1 great-grandson.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Lewis B. Woods and Lucy B. Wilson Woods of DuBois, Pennsylvania; her 8 brothers and sisters, Sallie Woods, Leonard Woods, Jim Woods, Clair Woods, Earle Woods, Jenny Woods, Merle Woods, and Grace Lorenzen; her stepson, Nathan Robinson; and her stepson-in-law, Gary Sharp.

Dee was born in DuBois, Pennsylvania on November 3, 1930, to Lewis and Lucy Woods. Her mother passed away while “Dottie”, as she was known then, was only six years old. In her high school years, she was sent to live with Jessie Lewis, a hairdresser and family friend, who was affectionately known as Aunt Jessie. Dee graduated from high school in 1948 and received a Nursing degree from Clearfield Hospital School of Nursing in 1952. She was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant in the Air Force on February 7, 1958. She completed Officer Training School at Hunter Field in Montgomery, Alabama, and her first duty assignment was at Tyndall AFB in Panama City, Florida. She was then sent on a tour of duty in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It was there, on a base of 1400 men and only 28 women, that she met 1st Lt. Lynn Forrest Robinson, who was to be the love of her life. Their relationship grew and before they knew it, they were in love. Then, they received their next duty posting -- Dee was sent to Ramstein Air Base in Germany and Lynn was sent to Otis AFB, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. After Dee had been in Ramstein for a time, she received a letter from Lynn with just three questions, “Do you love me?”, “Will you marry me?”, and “Will you resign from the Air Force?”. Her reply was just as short and sweet – “YES! YES! YES!”. So, she resigned from the Air Force and she sent word to Lynn to pick her up at McGuire AFB in Trenton, New Jersey. However, by the time Lynn received the message, there was no way he could get to Trenton in time. So his brother, Francis Robinson, who was living in Long Island, New York with his wife Alice, went to pick her up. Lynn met them in Long Island and they were married on July 12, 1961.

They honeymooned at Niagara Falls, New York. After the Otis assignment, they moved to Durham, New Hampshire so that Lynn could complete an Electrical Engineering degree at UNH. In 1965, they were sent to the paradise of Hawaii for a 3 year posting. While there, they welcomed Eric Lynn (11/16/66) and Lisa Malia (12/4/67) into their lives. This small family then went on to have many exciting adventures as the Air Force moved them all over the world. They went from Biloxi, Mississippi to Griffis AFB in Rome, New York to Bangkok, Thailand. The next move was to Patrick AFB in Satellite Beach, Florida and finally, to Elemendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska. It was there that Lynn retired from the Air Force and they chose to make their home in Palm Bay, Florida. During this period of her life, Dee spent her time as a devoted wife and mother – she was the ultimate officer’s wife, hosting parties and participating in base events and charities. With Eric off to college and Lisa soon to follow, she decided that she would return to Nursing. She got her FL license and began working at Holmes Regional Hospital in Melbourne, Florida. However, nursing had changed over the years and the job was now more about computers and less about patients. This didn’t set well with Dee and she made the decision to work in the Home Healthcare field as a Hospice Nurse. This suited her well as she possessed that special and rare ability to care for someone in their last days and help ease their transition from this life to the next. She only left the field when she could no longer meet the physical demands of caring for her patients.

With Lisa and Eric now grown and starting lives of their own, Lynn and Dee lived the retired life. Along with Lynn’s sisters, Rosemary Lamoray and Florence Barnes and his brother-in-law, George Barnes, they enjoyed many Early Bird dinners at local restaurants. Once his sisters moved away and Palm Bay was hit by four hurricanes in one year, Lynn and Dee decided to move to Magnolia, Texas in 2005 to be near their grandchildren, Joshua Sharp, Forrest, Hunter, and Mason Thomas and William Robinson. It was here, in their sunset years, that Dee developed dementia. While this horrible disease progressively robbed her of her memories, it couldn’t rob her of her sweet, gentle spirit, her quick wit, and her love of animals, especially her cats.

Dee was a faithful Christian. Throughout her life, she pointed those around her to a personal relationship with Jesus. Even at the end of her life, Jesus and the promise of Heaven were on her mind. We believe her Father greeted her with, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Welcome home”.

The viewing for Dee will be held at Forest Park Funeral Home on Monday, February 26th at 11:00 a.m., followed by the Funeral Service starting at 12:00 p.m. There will be a brief Graveside Service afterwards followed by a reception inside with light refreshments for those who would like to visit with family and friends. All are welcome to attend to celebrate Dee’s life. The family would like to thank Kannitha “KK” Pinder and Ashley White for their loving care and dedication to Dee in her final months.