Charles “Charlie” Wilson Robinson Jr. passed into the loving arms of his Savior surrounded by his loved ones on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas. Charlie was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on May 17, 1935 to parents Charles Wilson Robinson and Mildred Randolph Gane. Growing up in Charlotte, he excelled at academics, track, and outdoorsmanship. At 16 he skipped 12th grade to attend Davidson College pre-med and run the high hurdles for varsity track.
Next, was medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where Charlie graduated AOA. While in medical school he met and married Joan Atkinson and welcomed daughter, Ashley and son, Charles. Upon completion of his residency in Clinical Pathology, the Army brought Charlie to Fort Sam Houston to serve as Chief of Special Hematology at Brook General Hospital. He quickly, in no particular order, fell in love with tacos, San Antonio, First Presbyterian Church, and the medical community of South Texas, and never moved back to his native North Carolina.
His distinguished professional career included serving as a founding member of Severance and Associates Pathology Group. Severance provided pathology services to many area hospitals. Charlie, as Vice-President of Hospital Services, helped many of these hospitals design their clinical laboratories. He also personally trained the hospital physicians on how to utilize their new laboratories. Charlie served as Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at U.T. Health Science Center, as Trustee and Secretary of the Bexar County Medical Foundation, and Director of the Alamo Health Care Plan, Inc. His training in hematology and blood banking led Charlie to co-found and serve as director of what today is known as South Texas Blood and Tissue Center. He understood the need for consolidating all the various hospital blood banks into a centralized source for the benefit of hospitals throughout San Antonio and South Texas. For many years, he served as a consultant to a large number of hospitals. Every Thursday for a little over a decade, saw Charlie leaving town at the crack of dawn to visit various hospitals across the Hill Country and South Texas: Comfort, Kerrville, Fredericksburg, Luling, Pearsall, Johnson City, San Marcos, Lockhart, Del Rio.
Charlie’s interests were many and varied. In addition to his love of medicine he was a self-taught, highly educated investor in the stock and commodities markets. When he wasn’t engaged in lab work, investments, or outdoor activities, Charlie exercised his green thumb, including the propagation of orchids, tomatoes, and other vegetables.
In the early 1970’s, Charlie purchased a house on Lake LBJ–a refuge from his busy professional life where he taught all his children to water ski, sail and drive boats. Many Saturday mornings, would find Charlie, aka the Mad Chopper, pruning shrubs at the lake, leaving the cuttings lying on the ground for his children to drag to the top of the hill, while he would go look for “pinholes in his eyelids.” (take a nap).
Charlie met Cynthia Cartall in April of 1980 and they married four months later. His blended family was a joy to him, and he and Cynthia had so much fun together. They traveled the world, from Tahiti to Israel, to Europe to the Baltic, but Charlie’s favorite trips were their five photo safaris to Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. They preferred bush camps to lodges, and they learned to cope with “unexpected eventualities.” While these may have been a little nerve-wracking, they were certainly interesting!
An avid outdoorsman, Charlie loved to hunt and fish. As a boy, Charlie, toting his grandfather’s shotgun, and his younger brother, Bill, would ride the city bus to the family farm for the weekend. The bus stop was a solid two mile walk from the farm. As they walked up the road, Charlie would hunt for their supper. A longtime member of Blue Wing Club, Charlie shared his love of fishing with his children and grandchildren. In later years Charlie hunted elk in Colorado and Wyoming with his son Hunter and dear friend Ron Hall and fished for salmon and halibut in Alaska both with his son, Charles, and his wife Cynthia.
Charlie was a dedicated member of Dr. Louis Zbinden’s Tuesday morning doctors’ Bible Study at Northeast Baptist Hospital. In retirement, he joined the men’s Thursday morning Bible study at First Presbyterian Church.
Family was especially important to Charlie, he spent many weekends grilling and hosting various friends and family at both the lake and in San Antonio. A member of the Petroleum Club and the Friday Singers, Charlie’s infectious smile and wonderful laugh will be treasured always.
Charlie was preceded in death by his parents Charles and Mildred Robinson and his brother, William Robinson (Bill). Charlie is survived by his wife Cynthia Cartall Robinson, children: Ashley Robinson Dike, Charles Wilson Robinson III (Amy) and Hunter Cartall Peyton (Kari), grandchildren: Peyton Ray Dike, Stuart Rex Dike, Ramsey Campbell Robinson, Charles Wilson Robinson, Hayes Cartall Peyton, Bennett Elaine Peyton, and sister, Louise Robinson Singleton and brother Stephen Robinson (Virginia), as well as many nieces, nephews, family, and friends.
The Memorial Service will be held Thursday, June 23, 2022, 2:00pm at First Presbyterian Church.
Rev. Dr. Bob Fuller will officiate. Honorary Pallbearers: Clay Cartall, Milt McFarland, Bill Young, George Case, and Ron Hall. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to San Antonio Christian Dental Clinic, First Presbyterian Church, South Texas Blood & Tissue, or a charity of your choice.
You are invited to sign the Guestbook atwww.porterloring.com
