ROBIN BECKETT

1948 - 2021

BECKETT--Robin. Robin Marie Beckett passed away at home in New York City on December 30, 2021 after a courageous but private four-year battle with cancer. Her husband, Thomas Emmons, and children Elizabeth and Stuart were at her side. She was 73. Robin was born on April 28, 1948, the eldest of three sisters, to Col. James E. Beckett, a career army officer, and Renee Beckett, whom he had met and married in France after the war. Born at Fort Bliss in El Paso TX, she moved with her military family to Japan, Germany, and various Army bases around the US, settling finally in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington. Robin graduated from Boston University in 1970. After working on Capitol Hill, she returned to graduate school, earning a Master's degree in City Planning at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design in 1975, and an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1977. Upon graduation, she embarked on a distinguished 30-year career in international finance, first at Citibank New York as a banker to multinational companies, followed by a five-year assignment with her young family to Hong Kong as co-founder of the Asian Derivatives Group. Other assignments upon returning to New York City included loan syndications, municipal finance, euro- securities, and securitization. She retired from Citibank in 1997 after nineteen years, subsequently co-founded Stone Tower Capital, and later held positions at RISC Ventures and Mariner Bridge, managing portfolios and raising capital. Robin held a lifelong passion for the preservation of important historic structures. In New Canaan, where she had a home, she was a Commissioner of the Town's Historic District, and was co-founder of the New Canaan Preservation Alliance. At the national level, she served on the Board of the National Association of Preservation Commissions. At the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, she was an active member of the Board of Advisors for twelve years. There she established the Robin M. Beckett Fund to provide fellowships and other financial support for historic preservation programs. Robin was active in the local community including Brick Church and her children's schools, Nightingale-Bamford, St. Bernard's, and Diller-Quaile School of Music. Most recently she became active with the Central Park Conservancy, working on the Women's Committee and serving as a docent. Her talents and interests were numerous and varied, ranging across architecture and design, opera, cooking, WWII history, France, family history, fashion, stock-picking, her dogs, and renovating and gardening at her historic home in New Canaan. Robin was a member of the DAR, Daughters of the US Army, and the Colony Club. Robin is survived by her husband of 41 years, her children, and sisters Deborah Mitchell and Jill Cochran of Austin, TX. She was buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery alongside family members. A memorial service will be held at a later date at Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City. Donations in Robin's memory may be made to: University of Pennsylvania, Office of the Treasurer, PO Box 71332, Philadelphia, PA 19176-9913, Attn: Robin M. Beckett Fund, School of Design or Central Park Conservancy, 14 East 60th St., New York, NY 10022 Attn: Docent's Committee.