David Wright Robinson

LAKESIDE – Great Falls native and World War II Army veteran David Wright Robinson, 82, of Lakeside, died of natural causes Friday after a prolonged stay at Heritage Place in Kalispell.
Visitation is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday at Johnson Mortuary in Kalispell. Funeral services are 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Lakeside Community Chapel. Burial is 2:30 p.m. Thursday in Great Falls in Highland Cemetery.
Surviving David are his wife of 54 years, Jean Kearney Robinson; daughter Polly Addison (Dr. John) and their children, Megan, Bennett and David, of Mercer Island, Wash., daughter Dr. Alice Robin-son (Joe Cielak) and their children, Sperry Robinson, Louis and Jona-than Cielak of Libby; daughter-in-law Sabrina Robinson (wife of Mark, deceased) and their chil-dren, Andrew, Kevin and Crystal of Spokane; stepsister Mary Christine Peterson (George, deceased), step-brother Dr. Robert Addison (Ouida) and fifteen nieces and nephews.
David was born Dec.13, 1923, in Great Falls, to Fred and Alice (Brooks) Robinson. He grew up in Great Falls where he attended grade school and junior high. He then attended and graduated from Shattuck Military Academy in Faribault, Minn. Every summer he returned to the family's Flathead Lake summer home in Lakeside, working one summer at the So-mers' Mill and another at Lake Blaine Mill. After attending one quarter at Montana State Univer-sity (then College), David enlisted in the Army after the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. He was chosen to attend Officer Training and was then commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Infantry, but was assigned to a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier near the Philippines as an aerial observer. During these har-rowing times of WWII, Dave and his pilot tried to draw enemy fire while flying torpedo bomber mis-sions a few hundred feet above ground over hostile jungles. "It was the first time this tactic had ever been tried," Robinson reflected 60 years later. After he rejoined his Army unit for the ground campaign in Okinawa, he was seriously injured by enemy fire and spent a year in the hospital recovering from shrapnel wounds in his foot and leg. He received the Purple Heart.
Following his recovery after WWII, Robinson returned to MSU and earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1950. Also in that year Dave met his wife Jean, in Libby. Jean was from Chicago and a Northwestern University gradu-ate. They were married in 1951. At the time, Dave had already begun his career as an engineer with the W. R. Grace affiliate Zonolite Company in Libby. The couple lived in this northwestern Montana community until 1969, spending summers at Crystal Lake, raising their family and 'Summer Sons', orphaned nephews Reed, Ted and Ross Robinson. The family moved to Greenville, S.C., in late 1969, where they lived until 1972, but the love of Montana drew them back home. The Robinsons returned to Great Falls in 1972 to join the family business Lumber Yard Supply, (previously known as Grogan Robinson Lumber Com-pany). Here Dave continued his career in management until his retirement in 1987, but continued on the firm's Board of Directors until 2004.
Dave and Jean have made Flat-head Lake their permanent resi-dence since 1987. Dave was the consummate gentle man, ready with a big smile to greet one and all. He lived his life in an exem-plary manner, always helping and encouraging others. As an active resident of the Flathead Valley, Dave was an enthusiastic skier, hiker, flyfisher, outdoorsman, star-gazer, inventor and proud "Cap-tain" of the MaryTom, his 26-foot StanCraft wooden boat built in 1946. He was very active in com-munity service, spending much of his time as a member of Rotary Club, SCORE, Flathead Lakers, Lakeside Men's Coffee Group, the Ski Bums and a proud member of Sigma Chi Fraternity.
Dave was preceded in death by parents, Fred and Alice; step-mother Mary Addison Robinson; and brothers J. Brooks and Alfred. Four of the couple's children pre-deceased their parents. Tommy died in infancy, Davy and Mark from congenital heart disease and Meg in a hiking accident.
David's family and friends brought him much joy and love. He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him. He was a lovely man.
Memorials can be made to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, FHCRCF, J5-200, P.O. Box 19024, Seattle, WA 98019, the Mark A. Robinson Memorial Scholarship Fund at MSU Foundation, 1501 South 11th Ave., Bozeman, MT, 59717, or the American Heart Association.
Condolences may be sent online to greatfallstribune.com/obituaries.