Robert Cole Robinson

Robert Cole Robinson, known as Bob, Robbie, Dad, Papa and Friend, passed away while in hospice care on Sunday, April 22, 2018, at 97 years of age, at Eskaton Lodge Gold River in Sacramento County, California.  He was preceded in death by his loving wife, friend and partner of 66 years, Glee Helen Robinson, in 2011.  He is survived by two sons and their wives, Jon William Robinson and Carol A. Hurwitch of Adelphi, MD, and Philip Jay Robinson and Lyn B. VanWinkle of Gold River, CA. 

Bob Robinson was born on the family farm just south of Amboy, MN, in 1921, and was the only child of William Grover Robinson and Clara Eliza (Cole) Robinson.  He graduated from Amboy High School in 1939, and attended McAlister College in Minneapolis his freshman year.  After hearing about aeronautical engineering from a friend, he transferred to the University of Minnesota, graduating in 1943 with a B.S. degree in Aeronautical Engineering. 

After graduation, Bob moved to Palo Alto, CA, and began working for the National Advisory Council on Aeronautics (NACA) at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field near Mountain View, CA.  He joined the team performing critical wind tunnel testing on new aircraft like the Vought F4U Corsair and the North American P-51 Mustang in support of WW II.  While at Moffett Field, which was a Naval Air Station, Bob was inducted into the Navy for the duration of the war, and was given the rank of Ensign.  In December 1944, he married his high school sweetheart in Palo Alto, CA, Glee Helen Nelson, who had been teaching in Muskegon, MI, after she graduated from the National College of Education in Evanston, Ill.  They continued to live in Palo Alto in an apartment on the Stanford Campus.  Their first son, Jon William Robinson was born at Stanford Hospital in 1946. 

In 1948 the family moved back to Amboy, MN, to be close to family, and Bob worked with his father, William Robinson on the farm where he grew up.  During this time, their second son, Philip Jay Robinson, was born in Winnebago, MN, in 1953.  In 1954, the family moved back to California, settling in Mountain View, after Bob accepted a job offer to return to the NACA Ames Research Center.  They subsequently moved to Los Altos in November 1957, where he lived up until March 2018, when he moved to Gold River, CA, near Sacramento, where his youngest son lives. 

While at NACA, Bob continued to perform wind tunnel testing on aircraft, and when NACA became NASA on July 29 1958 in response to the Soviet Union launching Sputnik I on October 4, 1957, he began performing wind tunnel testing on early space capsule designs, to characterize space capsule behavior during reentry in Earth’s upper atmosphere.  His work supported the NASA Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, and he won recognition for his work in supporting the Apollo first manned spaceflight and landing on the Moon.  In later years, his work focused on vertical and short take-off and landing (V/STOL) aircraft, where he supported the development of the NASA XV-15 tilt rotor aircraft which ultimately led to the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft in service today.  The tilt rotor aircraft can take off like a helicopter and fly like an airplane, thereby not requiring long runways.  Bob retired from NASA in 1979 after 30 years of service. 

Bob retained interests that he developed as a youth on the farm into his adult life, like his enjoyment of birds, the outdoors in general, photography, gardening, wood working and fixing things.  He enjoyed fishing, camping, hiking and sightseeing in the vicinity of his home, as well as visiting a number of the national parks, monuments, wilderness areas and historic sites.  He liked spending time with his family, particularly while gardening or visiting the great outdoors.  He had a genuine appreciation for nature.

Bob’s knowledge of grammar and writing skills were well developed, which were most likely the product of his education in Amboy.  These skills were probably further refined by all of the report writing required by his job with NASA.  He also had a very strong command of the English language, being very careful to use the precise word or words necessary to accurately convey his thoughts and feelings.  These skills probably explain why he enjoyed jokes that utilized a subtle turn of phrase, or used words with double meanings.

Bob, Dad, Papa and Friend will be dearly missed by those who loved him so much.  He was a quiet, steady, and kind man, one we cherished and for whom we will be eternally grateful for having been able to share our lives with him, and glad he shared his life with us. 

A graveside service will be held at Pleasant View Cemetery in Amboy on Tuesday, July 10 at 10:00 AM.  Mankato Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.