Gilbert Rex Robinson, Sr.

Find-A-Grave memorial #12673549

BURIAL:

1. Find A Grave.

• Gilbert Rex Robertson
• "Birth: Jun. 13, 1915
• Maumee
• Jackson County
• Indiana, USA
• Death: Sep. 10, 1993
• Jeffersonville
• Clark County
• Indiana, USA

Note: Son of Jason4 Robertson (Perry3, William2, James1 Robertson) Mother: Myrtle Belle4 Waggoner Robertson (Adam3, William2, George1 Waggoner).

Family links:

• Parents:
• Jason Robertson (1887 - 1976)
• Myrtle Belle Waggoner Robertson (1894 - 1925)

Spouses:

• Mary Jewell Huffman Crow (1922 - 2003)
• Betty Joann Hammond Jackson (1930 - 1984)

 Children:

• Beverly Ann Robertson Jackson (1939 - 1998)*

Burial: Walnut Ridge Cemetery Jeffersonville Clark County Indiana, USA

That Man On A Pedestal

Born to a farmer in Jackson County, Indiana on a farm in the community of Maumee. The second born of seven children he worked hard and long hours all his live.

As one of his children, I want him to be remembered by his future generations, as he stood tall in my eyes and taught me to stand on my own two feet and influenced my live greatly just by being there when I needed him most, a man known as my Father.

His german and irish ancestors hunted wolves for the kings of Scotland, and to this day the Robertson men, driven by this primal urge, spend their free time hunting and fishing as did my Dad.

His ancestors sailed from Scotland to Maryland, and moved to Virginia, and Tennessee. From there they migrated to parts of Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, and Texas.

The Hoosier National Forest south of Bloomington, Indiana holds dear to its heart those ancestors who traveled there in the 1800's in the family named cemetery in Maumee, Jackson County, Indiana.

At age 10, his polish Mother died of meningitis. Incapable of caring for his children on his own a distraught father, Jason Robertson, orphaned out the children to well off families, and he sold his farm and became at tenant farmer until his death in 1976.

Gilbert never lost touch with his brothers and sisters and the 3rd Sunday of every August is reserved for The Robertson Family Reunion in which we still gather to talk about days gone by in Bloomington, Indiana.

Gilbert nearly lost his left leg in February 1928 at the age of 12 while sledding down a hill in the path of an Automobile in downtown Bloomington, Indiana. The blade of the sled severed his leg at the hip. Gilbert was staying with a sister of Old Man Gentry of the Gentry Brothers Circus at the time of his sledding accident. Mr Gentry refused to let the Doctors amputate his leg. His injury left his left leg shorter and he had to have a 1 inch sole added to his left shoe every time he bought a new pair of shoes.

He attended school through the 11th grade and often spoke of his typing speed of 90 wpm, which sounds odd by today's standards, but men held the clerical positions back during the Depression Era.

As a young man he joined The Gentry Brothers Circus in which he learned how to train dogs and Rhesus monkeys to do tricks. That man feared no dog and on several occasions I saw first hand how he could literally stare down a vicious dog or beat the heck out of it if the dog tried to take him on.

After being picked up for a speeding violation in 1936 while traveling with the circus he was unable to pay the fine and served six months on a chain gang in Florida in which he worked on highway construction and from that time till his retirement in 1970, construction work became his career.

When most young men and along with Dad's Brothers were joining the service during World War II, his hip injury prevented him from being eligible for the military.

Roller skating was his hobby. Even with a bumbed up hip he could skate and dance gaining several medals over the years. Quite a charmer with the ladies he met both his first and second wife while roller skating.

While roller skating in competition he met my mother, Betty Joan Hammond in Madison, Indiana, and was wed in Scott County, Indiana. After 8 years of marriage and a buch of kids the responsibility proved to difficult for my mother and she vanished from our mids leaving dad to care for five motherless chidlren. From this pint on I viewed my Day now age 42, quite differently and with concern. How could a man care for children between the ages of 3 and 7. Would history again repeat itself with us being orphaned out as he was as a child.

Admirably that man made the transistion, not only as a father, but as a mother as well, but not without frazzeled nerves and a few ulcers along the way. Looking back, I saw the pain he went through trying to raise us and making a Living on his own.

He was there like some great god from a far, who kept me safe and secure.

About 1968 modern medicene started doing hip reconstructive surgery and so at age 53 this man went to the renowned Male Clinic in Minnisota by himself, while my Stepmother remained home to take care of their 4 children.

At age 19, I'm not sure what I expected when he returned home after his surgery, but when I saw him it appeared as if surgery had shrank him a foot and aged him 10 years. I had always perceived him as being ten feet tall and capable of doing anything. That day, however, I realized he was a mere mortal, and saw first hand how the aftermath of surgery can take its toll on the human body.

The hip surgery was truly a success and made it possible for him to walk without a waddling limp and for the first time he wore shoes without having the additional sole added to the left shoe.

The years past by so quickly and in 1984, Dad suffered a stroke that left him unable to speak or use his right hand. An active person, He never let it get Him down. Active in the Moose Lodge and never missing a meeting inspite of his disability. He could communicate by writing with his left hand as he was right handed prior to the stroke.

On His 75th Birthday in 1990 with His Children present the Moose Lodge presented Him with a lifetime Membership to the Legion.

On Friday, September 10, 1993 in the afternoon He passed away peacefully at the age of 78."