Obituary of Ronald Robinson

The Life of Ron Robinson Lydia and John Robinson settled in Salt Lake City in the 1920s, and there they gave birth to four children, two girls and two boys. The last of their children was Ronald Charles Robinson, born August 22, 1929. Ron, as he was affectionately called, came into this world just two months before the stock market crash that sent America and the world into the Great Depression. In the 1930s the Robinson family moved to Southern California, along with millions of other mid-Americans looking for a better life. They settled in the Lynwood area, and there Ron graduated from high school. Young Ron worked at a variety of jobs, including the back-breaking job of brick laying. But he determined that heavy labor was not “his cup of tea.” When he was about 23, he walked into a local drugstore and his life changed forever. There on one of the swivel stools at the soda fountain sat a beautiful young lady, Grace McDonald, a transplant to California like himself. He struck up a conversation and must have been quite persuasive. They were married a little more than a year later in December 1953. The marriage was a wonderful success of 57 years, producing three amazing daughters, Jackie and Janet, who were born in Lynwood, and Linda, who was born in Woodland Hills after the family moved to Simi Valley. In those early years, Ron worked in a variety of occupations, gaining a wide collection of talents and experiences, including clock repair and woodworking. Eventually, Ron could do just about everything he set his mind to do. When they moved to Simi Valley in 1960, he and Grace bravely opened a hardware store, the first in Simi. After seven years of lean times, they finally closed the store, having given away the meager profits in service to customers. Ron went to work in the aerospace industry as a machinist, where he was eventually promoted to supervisor. Although Grace was a lifelong Christian, Ron was a somewhat hesitant observer for many years. But in 1979, he was baptized into Christ Jesus by his friend, Dr. Morris Womack, minister for the church at the time. For the rest of his life he was a faithful Christian. As the years went by, Ron’s great joy was his grandchildren. He loved them greatly and promoted them fiercely. In many ways, Ron was only half a person after January 2011 when Grace passed away. Now, he is surely spending lots of time with the Lord, and long wonderful moments with his other half, his forever soulmate, Grace. And now, after nearly five years, they are once again “Ron and Grace.”