Rev. Norman A Robinson

Rev. Norman A. Robinson, former minister of the Presbyterian Church of Wyalusing, PA, passed away on February 20, 2015 in Durham, NC at the age of 96. He was born July 5, 1918 in Cambridge, MA, the son of George and Gertrude Robinson. His father was a New England architect specializing in firehouse design. Rev. Robinson attended school in Belmont, MA, graduating from high school in 1935. He attended Suffolk University, Geneva College and Princeton Seminary, graduating with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1944. He was ordained a Presbyterian minister by the Lehigh Presbytery in 1944. He served as pastor of the Shawnee Presbyterian Church of Shawnee, PA from 1944 to 1947, the Second Welsh Presbyterian Church of Wilkes-Barre, PA from 1947 to 1950, and the Presbyterian Church of Wyalusing, PA from 1950 to 1980, when he retired. Rev. Robinson married Elizabeth Stevenson of Clarinda, Iowa in December, 1942 in the Princeton Seminary Chapel. They were married for 53 years until her death in June 1996. In retirement, Rev. Robinson and his wife, Elizabeth, divided their time between Wyalusing, PA and Bonita Springs, FL until 2006, when Rev. Robinson relocated to Durham, NC. Sports were an important part of his life beginning in childhood. He played baseball and basketball in high school, semi-professional baseball in New Hampshire, tennis on the Geneva College team, and golf and tennis in his adult years. He coached both boys basketball and baseball teams for many years in the Wyalusing area. In retirement he played on the USTA Senior Circuit in Florida and was nationally ranked in the top 25 in the 85-90 year division when he gave up competitive tennis due to declining health. In his later years he took great pleasure as a spectator at Duke basketball games. Rev. Robinson was a 50-year member of the American Philatelic Society, specializing in American stamps, and for many years he acted as agent and advisor to help Walter Klein of the Bunge Corporation collect one of the finest US stamp collections of the 20th century. Rev. Robinson is survived by two daughters: Margaret Gesell of Columbia, MD and Phyllis Vandenberg of Durham, NC. A son, the Rev. David Robinson of Hamburg, NY, passed away in 2004. Other survivors are sons-in-law Leslie Gesell and John Vandenberg, daughter-in-law Susan Robinson of Washington, PA, grandchildren Leslie Saunders of Randallstown, MD, Kimberly Powell of Columbia, MD, Michael Vandenberg of Durham, NC, Elizabeth Hay of Washington, PA, and Scott Robinson, of Seoul, South Korea. There are two great-grandchildren: Savannah Hay and Jerald Hay, Jr. A memorial service will be held on Saturday April 25, 2015 at 11:00 A.M. at the Wyalusing Presbyterian Church in Wyalusing, PA with the Rev. Dr. Barry R. Ballard officiating. Interment will be in the Wyalusing Cemetery. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Rev. Norman Robinson be made to the Wyalusing Presbyterian Church, PO Box 25, 102 Church St, Wyalusing, PA 18853. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the P. Dean Homer Funeral Home, 1 Grovedale Lane, Wyalusing, PA 18853 To send condolences or sign the e-guestbook, please go to www.homerfuneralhome.com. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Rev. Norman A Robinson, please visit our flower store.