Donald Louis Robinson 83, of Shawnee, died Saturday, April 8, 2017.  Don was born August 15, 1933 in Richmond, CA to Camille and Donald H. Robinson.  He lived in California throughout his early life.  Following graduation from Chico State College, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.  After training at Quantico, VA, he completed his service in the Artillery Regiment of the First Division quartered in California.

Following his tour of duty, Don returned to school and earned a Master's Degree in Special Education at San Francisco State College.  He spent his early career working in the public schools in Glenn County, CA where he initiated the county's Speech Therapy Program.  He later went to the Novato, CA school district as a Speech Pathologist, where he helped inaugurate a program with the County Superintendent's Office for children with severe speech impairments, and received the Man of the Year award from the Novato Junior Chamber of Commerce.  With all this, Don also taught classes in public speaking, literature and English grammar at the San Quentin State Prison for two years.

In 1964, Don returned to graduate school at Iowa University where he earned another Master's Degree in Speech Pathology.  He transferred to the University of Oregon in 1967 where he completed the requirements of Ph.D. in Speech Pathology through the Medical School in Portland.  In 1969 Don started practice at St. Christopher's Children Hospital in Philadelphia and at Jefferson Medical College Department of Otolaryngology.  He moved his family to Kansas in 1973 to work in the Hearing and Speech Department at the University of Kansas Medical Center.  In 1976 he joined the staff of the School of Communication Disorders at the Lincoln Institute of Health Sciences in Melbourne, Australia. He was the Head of School for a brief period.

Don returned to Kansas City in 1979 and went into private practice working with children and adults.  He volunteered speech services at local shelters and the Kansas School for the Blind.  In 1998 he transitioned from private practice to a disability claims reviewer for speech and language for the Social Security Administration.  He fully retired in 2012 which allowed time to volunteer as an AARP driving instructor and election poll worker.  He also pursued a passion for family genealogy, tracing family roots back to the Mayflower Pilgrims and beyond.  His greatest extra-curricular love was his seasonal role as Santa Claus and donating his merry services to many worthy agencies and children.

He is preceded in death by his wife of 35 years, Mary A. Carpenter (MAC), his eldest daughter from a previous marriage, Stephanie Robinson and his parents.  He is survived by two children from the previous marriage: David Robinson (Diana); and Michelle Johnson  (Phil); five grandchildren, Cole Robinson (Danielle Hull), Mark Robinson (Katherine), Drew Robinson (Allison), Sean Robinson (Molly) and Nicole Purcell (Richard); two Great Grandchildren Harper Robinson and William Robinson, sister Mary Robinson and nieces Sarah Bay-Cheng, Emily Olavarri, and nephews Isaac Robinson-Smith and Will Robinson-Smith.

Mass of Christian Burial

A memorial mass will be held at Queen of the Holy Rosary later this spring.

Memorial Contributions

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the Carpenter And Robinson Epilogue (C.A.R.E.) fund, in support of speech-language services at the Hearing and Speech Department at KU Medical Center through KU Endowment, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., MS3012, Kansas City, KS 66160 to benefit the C.A.R.E. fund. Or Online contributions at www.kuendowment.org/give Please indicate donation is for “Dr. Donald Robinson Memorial”.