William Thomas Robinson Iii

1938 - 2020

William (Bill) Thomas Robinson III

Thousand Oaks - William (Bill) Thomas Robinson III, age 81, of Thousand Oaks, CA, died April 9th from complications of a December stroke.

Born in Philadelphia in 1938, Bill grew up in Havertown, PA and attended Haverford High School where he excelled in studies as well as football and lacrosse. He continued both sports at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA. Lacrosse was always his passion, and he continued to play in Club leagues and referee into his 40's. At Swarthmore, he majored in history with an emphasis on American history, and was a member of the DU fraternity.. He made lifelong friendships at Swarthmore and was a proud alumnus.

Bill graduated from Swarthmore in 1960 and started work for IBM promptly the next Monday. Six months later he joined the U.S. Navy and entered Officer Candidate School. He served as a lieutenant supply officer aboard the USS Collette, a destroyer with the Pacific fleet. Bill returned to IBM after the Navy and stayed with the company for over 25 years in sales and sales management.

In 1967 Bill met his future wife Carol when she was assigned to work with him at IBM. The romance blossomed and in 1968 Bill and Carol were married in Jenkintown, PA. He would spend the next 51 years by her side. They moved west in 1975 to Palos Verdes and immediately took to the California lifestyle. Gourmet cooking and skiing were common interests. Most of the family vacations were in the winter to ski or the summer to hike. Bill began taking annual backpacking trips to the Sierras with his outdoor loving friends. He completed 25 annual trips. A change in jobs in 1987 to GTE brought the Robinsons to the Conejo Valley where they have remained ever since. Their two children were both graduates of Westlake High School and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Bill was an active member of his church, Chalice Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Newbury Park, CA. An avid reader, he followed politics closely, and was always up to date with current events throughout the world. The family joke was that Carol was in charge of local event happenings and Bill was in charge of world peace. He also enjoyed watching football on the weekends in the fall. He was a great lover of dogs and spent many years volunteering for the Southern California Labrador Retriever Rescue group.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents William and Maria Robinson of Havertown, PA and his sister Barbara Stephans of Narbeth, PA. He is survived by his wife, Carol Robinson of Newbury Park; son David Robinson and his wife Dee of Portland OR; daughter Susan Ambrosini and husband Giacomo of Silver Lake, CA, 2 grandchildren, Phoebe and Sidney. Ambrosini, and brother Ted Robinson and his wife Ellen of Pawleys Island, SC.

A memorial is planned in the coming months at Chalice Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Newbury Park, CA. Details will be forthcoming. The family has asked that memorials be made to the Chalice Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at ChaliceUU.org.