Dr. Stuart Cooper "Robbie" ROBINSON

ROBINSON, Dr. Stuart Cooper 'Robbie' ( MD, FRCSC)
May 4, 1921 - December 22, 2011
Born on May 4, 1921, died quietly on December 22, 2011, surrounded by family. Born in Nagoya, Japan, Robbie was Canadian but the third generation of his family who had lived in Japan since his grandparents arrived as missionaries during the Meiji Restoration. In 1938, risking arrest as a foreign national his father fled Japan. While still a high school student at the Canadian Academy Robbie made a number of trips to the black markets of China to exchange the remainder of the family money first into Chinese currency and then into American, by which his family was able to buy passage back to Canada at the outbreak of war. Robbie studied medicine at the University of Toronto working as a gold miner to earn his fees and enlisting in the Canadian Navy. It was during this time he met the love of his life, Katherine 'Kitty' Ross Caswell a student of nursing at U of T and whom he married in 1944, the year of his graduation. From 1948 until 1955, taking up an incentive offered by the Federal Government for doctors to practice in rural areas and being fluent in Japanese, Robbie became the physician in New Denver, BC, the location of a wartime Internment Camp. It was also home to hundreds of Sons of Freedom Doukhobors and the remains of a robust mining community. He was not only the sole doctor with a responsibility for a 21 bed hospital, he was also sometimes veterinarian, coroner, and dentist. His medical services were often paid for 'in kind', his children recall the day a gunny sack of live chickens was left tied to a tree as payment on a bill. Robbie loved the mountains, the variety of challenges life presented in the BC interior, the chance for creative solutions to professional problems, and the warm, genuine, friendships made and kept from those years. He left New Denver to pursue a specialty in Obstetrics and Gynaecology saying this was one of the most joyful aspects of medicine. He undertook extensive postgraduate training in Philadelphia, PA, in Halifax under Dr. Benje Atlee. Following a year in Kelowna, BC. during which he wrote his Fellowship exams, Robbie, Kitty and their four children settled back in Halifax where he was appointed to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology with the VG Hospital in 1959 and he and his colleagues began the Women's Clinics at the Grace Maternity Hospital. Robbie had a lifelong passion for education eventually becoming Associate Dean of Undergraduate Medical Education at Dalhousie University. He was an early supporter of Medicare, sat on a number of committees of the Nova Scotia Division of the Canadian Medical Association and was president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (1977-1979). He spoke extensively on subjects close to his heart including publicly concurring with his maternal grandfather, federal health officer, Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce in condemning the Residential School System as child abuse. He published regularly over the years culminating in a History of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dalhousie University, 1922-1995 co-authored with Dr. Carl Tupper. After retiring from Dalhousie Robbie was invited to work with the Faculty of Medicine at the Aga Kahn University in Karachi, Pakistan, with a mandate to foster the development of rigorous medical training programs using local expertise. He worked in Pakistan over seven years and was touched by the generosity of the Pakistani people, expressing deep admiration for their accomplishments under sometimes difficult conditions. He returned to Japan with Kitty during a sabbatical year and retained a lifelong love and respect for Japan, the Japanese and their culture. Although he spurned film and fiction he had a passion for history and politics and always had a calm and astute take on geopolitical affairs. He deeply loved music, was an accomplished violinist unto his final years and was an enthusiastic supporter of Symphony Nova Scotia and Scotia Festival. He loved swimming, gardening, dogs, skiing, hiking and especially sailing. With his best friends Commander Anthony Law and Dr. Fraser Nicholson he acquired an intimate knowledge of the coastlines of New England and Atlantic Canada. Robbie and Kitty raised their four children over 50 years in a neighbourhood they loved. Of all his many enthusiasms he loved his family best of all. The most profound and enduring sorrow of his life was the death of his youngest daughter Jennifer, of cancer in 1986. He practiced and expected from his children a high standard of integrity believing: sheer opportunism to be a dead end, that goodness and mercy counted, that there was no excuse for moral dishonesty, that you should share and enjoy every meal as though it were your last, that 'waste not, want not' was an obligation, that children were interesting and worthwhile, and that a secure and fun family life, a well-rounded education, and travel were the best legacies possible. He enjoyed and cherished the company of his children, grandchildren, and great- grandchildren, until his final day. Robbie was pre-deceased by a sister, Alexandra ( d. infancy), his daughter Jennifer (1986), his wife Kitty (2001). He is survived by his siblings: Eleanor Kerr, Dr. John 'Jock' Robinson, Patricia Lytle ; his children: Jill, Dr. Jean Hughes (George Hughes), Chris (Dr. Sue Robinson); his grandchildren: Chris, Kate, Will, Caroline, Timothy, Stephanie, and his great- grandchildren, Kai, Finley, Torin, Jacoby and Robbie. He will be sorely missed by Barbara Butchart and many close colleagues and friends. The family wish to express their deepest gratitude to his caregivers Arlene Starratt and Hedy Gavel for their kindness, good-natured patience and attention over the years. We would also like to thank Dr. Vicki Mitchell and the staff of the VG Site and QEll for taking such good care of him. In lieu of flowers, donations to Symphony Nova Scotia and Scotia Festival would be appreciated.