Kathryn Ann Robinson

Kathy Robinson was born on May 11th, 1959, and died on September 6th, 2024, after a long-concealed battle with cancer. No one has ever been more loved or loving. Her life is impossible to dilute to a brief excerpt, chiefly because she did so much. After growing up in Arlington, Virginia, she attended Ohio Wesleyan University, where she received her undergraduate degree and met her lifelong love. She was married on August 20th, 1983, and relocated to Gainesville, Florida, in July of 1988, where she remained a thoughtful community member until the very end. In 1995, she received her PhD in biology, specializing in Ornithology and Behavioral Ecology, from Bowling Green State University and was a fierce advocate for the protection of our natural world. After raising her two children, she began working as an educator at Gainesville High School in the English for Speakers of Other Languages program, where her commitment and impact will endure long past her tenure. Her family has started a scholarship in her name for ESOL students to attend Santa Fe College. Her intellect could have seen her through a long career as a scientist. Anyone who's tasted her cooking knows she could have been a chef. If you've seen her paintings, you'd wonder why she wasn't a professional artist. She was kind, funny, humble, creative, seemingly good at everything, and incredibly generous with herself. She saw beauty everywhere, likely because she made everywhere she went more beautiful. Fortunately for many of us, she dedicated the vast majority of her time to being the world's most natural mother, a devoted partner to her husband of 41 years, and an irreplaceable champion of her students. She is survived by her mother Jackie, her brother Robert, her husband Michael, her children Tyler and Lauren, and countless students spanning the globe.