Marie L. Robinson

Marie Alison Little Robinson, wife of the late Harold Barrett Robinson, former Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, who in her 32 years as a Buffalo resident was active in the Maria M. Love Convalescent Fund and what is now known as Preservation Buffalo Niagara, died November 11 in Needham, MA of heart failure, a week before her 95th birthday.

She was born November 18, 1929 in Boxford, MA to Major Edward Robert Little and Elizabeth Osborn Palmer Little and graduated from Point Loma High School in San Diego in 1947. Marie was an active member of the ZLAC Rowing Club on Mission Bay in San Diego, the world's oldest women's rowing club. She also was a devoted member of St. Paul's Church (now St. Paul's Cathedral), whose English-born rector was Harold Robinson. The two struck a friendship at parish USO dances and were married in 1952. Mary, Martha, and Anne, the first three of their four children, were born in San Diego. The family moved to Buffalo in 1962 when Harold was named Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, and in 1963 Jane was born. That year they also began renting a house on Knoll Road in Clarksburg, which became their refuge and dearest community of friends. In 1975 they built their dream home on a piece of land next door. Marie spent much of the summer on scaffolding, shingling most of the house herself. Years later her daughters learned that she found it a meditative way to escape the demands of motherhood. Her loving raising of four children greatly contributed to Harold's pastoral success.

She was passionate about historic preservation and worked actively with other community members to block the demolition of Buffalo's historic Delaware Avenue mansions. In a 1960s PTA poll, she demonstrated her commitment to equity by being one of the only two class parents to vote in favor of busing.

As her daughters grew up and left home, she became a Doncaster clothing representative and delighted in helping women create beautiful wardrobes. An active and continuous learner, her other pleasures included flower gardening (in Clarksburg she designed a series of raised beds within railroad ties, each anchored with a signature center such as a dwarf fruit tree or natural sculpture), opera and classical music, travel, genealogy, New England heritage, Dutch Masters paintings, architecture, reading, The New York Times crossword puzzles, and, in her last years, Trivial Pursuit, at which she was known to be ferociously competitive. She also was an avid and curious traveler. After Harold's retirement in 1988, he was appointed Chaplain for Cunard Lines, and they made three around-the-world cruises. He and Marie also lived several years in student apartments at General Theological Seminary while he served as Assisting Bishop of the Diocese of New York.

Following Harold's death from leukemia in 1994, when he was 71 and she 64, Marie moved to Newport, RI, where she again dove into community service and created an independent life. She became a Colonial Dame and Rhode Island representative to Dumbarton House in Washington, D.C.; a member of The Preservation Society of Newport County, Newport Art Museum, and Redwood Library and Athenaeum; and loved serving as a driver for players competing in the International Tennis Hall of Fame Tournament. While thrilled to be close to her New England roots, she continued her travels by traveling through Europe and once sailed between Greek islands with a 12-year-old granddaughter. One year, without telling family or friends until it was completed, she joined a boat building class and made a small wooden sailboat, which gave her great pride. She was also named the Museum of Yachting's Volunteer of the Year.

In 2015 Marie moved into Fox Hill Village in Westwood, MA, where she signed up for nearly every activity. She was a season ticket holder to the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a frequent visitor to the Museum of Fine Arts. She celebrated her 90th birthday during a European river cruise with her daughters, and was active until the end of her life. The Saturday before her death, she attended a Kelli O'Hara concert hours before being taken to the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. She was surrounded by her family during her care as well as an extraordinary hospital staff.

She is survived by her daughters Mary Jewett (Kent), Martha Higgins (James), Anne Wadsworth (William) and Jane Ward (Richard), 11 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. Her funeral will be held in St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo, at 3 pm Saturday November 23. Gifts in her memory can be made to General Theological Seminary (https://gts.edu) and the Girls Education Collaborative endowment. (https://gec.ngo/)