Arthur Wayne Robinson, 87
Arthur “Wayne” Robinson, 87, passed away Wednesday, March 11, 2009, in Bonners Ferry following a brief illness.
Graveside services were held Saturday at Grandview Cemetery in Bonners Ferry.
Wayne was born Sept. 8, 1921, in Fort Collins, Colo., to Harry Barton and Violet Yockey Robinson.
Wayne was the third eldest of eight children. His siblings were Harriet Violet, Eugene Fremont, Alvin Dean “Duge,” Iris Virginia “Ginny,” Lois Bernice “Mick,” Barton Lee and Walter Neil “Pete.”
In 1925, the Robinsons moved to LaGrange, Wyo., where Wayne attended school. In 1940 they moved to Idaho because of the Depression, drought, grasshoppers and crop failures in Wyoming.
In May 1940, the Robinsons loaded six of their kids and their possessions into a Model A Ford, pulling a four-wheeled trailer and headed for North Idaho. The Model A could not get the heavy load over the Continental Divide, so Violet and the kids had to walk over the pass. It took five days for them to get to Sandpoint.
The family was sure they had found heaven when they reached the lush green mountains of the Idaho Panhandle. Harry and Violet bought 160 acres on Highland Flats that included a house, barn and outbuildings.
Later that year, Wayne’s sister, Harriet, her husband, John, and their brother, Gene, arrived to make the Robinson homestead complete.
Wayne served in the U.S. Army from November 1942 until December 1945, spending time in Greece, Italy and northern Africa.
Following his discharge from the Army at the end of World War II, Wayne returned to the family home on Highland Flats, where he worked as a logger.
He married Verna Lee “Penny” Miller on March 17, 1947, in Libby, Mont.
Wayne and Penny built a home for their new family on the Robinson homestead.
Wayne and Penny and their children Ken, Karen and Duane spent many memorable years living on Highland Flats, surrounded by family members.
Penny was one of 17 children of Charles and Ruth Miller of Bonners Ferry, and Wayne was proud to be a member of the Miller clan, loving Penny’s myriad family members just as he did his own.
Wayne spent his entire working life as a sawyer and logger throughout North Idaho. He truly loved the forests and mountains, and it is believed that in his 40-plus years as a sawyer, Wayne probably cut more trees than anyone else in North Idaho.
He retired in 1986. Wayne and Penny enjoyed retirement together before Penny passed away in 1991.
Wayne then met a lovely companion, Ruth Plumlee, in about 1993. Wayne and Ruth pursued their mutual love of square dancing, spending time with friends and family, sightseeing and gardening. They truly enjoyed spending their golden years together and had a wonderful life at their home in Bonners Ferry.
The Boundary County Senior Hospitality Center was where they met with friends and were very active in the center’s activities. Following Ruth’s death in 2007, the senior center remained a supremely important part of Wayne’s life until his passing. The friendships he fostered there were immeasurably valuable to him.
Wayne was very well-loved and respected by his friends and family for his unfailing good humor, friendly demeanor, open heart and intrinsic wisdom. Wayne never met a stranger – the world was filled with friends he just hadn’t met yet.
He truly loved his life in Bonners Ferry, and it seems as though he knew most of the citizens of Boundary County. Wayne will be sadly missed by those who knew and loved him.
Wayne is survived by his sister Ginny Whetsler and her husband, Del, of Bakersfield, Calif.; sons Ken and his wife, Charlotte of Otis Orchards and Duane of Spokane, Wash., daughter Karen of Seattle; granddaughters Susan Budd and her husband, Dennis, of San Francisco and JuliAnn Issler and her husband, Dustin of Spokane, grandson Nick and his wife, Kellie, of Spokane, beloved great-grandchildren Lucas Issler, Etta and Oliver Budd, and Layna and Kate Robinson; many Miller family members, step-daughter Sandra Fulgham and her husband, Gene; and the Fulgham family.
In lieu of flowers, Wayne’s family asks donations be made to Boundary County Hospitality Center in return for the friends and companionship he and Ruth enjoyed there.
Family and friends can sign Wayne’s book at www.bonnersferryfuneralhome.com.
Bonners Ferry Funeral Home handled arrangements.