Thomas F. Robinson ’62
Thomas F. Robinson, Walnut Creek, CA, died May 5, 2023. Tom was active in the College’s Class Agent Program in the 1980s and 1990s and on Class of 1962 Reunion Committees. He co-chaired his class’s 40th Reunion in 2002.
After Saint Michael’s, Tom completed a one-year doctoral program at Fordham. He worked in chemical sales for and retired from Betz Entec, Inc., where he was an account manager for many years. The company provided clients with industrial water treatment services. He also worked for a time with his son in a start-up food distribution business, supplying provisions to schools and prisons.
After his chemical sales work brought him to the Bay Area in California decades ago, he and his family liked it so much that they stayed for retirement. Tom attended most Saint Michael’s alumni events in his region and was a regular at class reunions back East when possible. He was a Medallion Society supporter of the College since 1991.
He and his wife traveled widely, including volunteer projects in Honduras on several trips. Tom also was very involved with the International Lions Club’s eyeglass-recycling initiative through his local chapter, where he served as president, according to a 2011 story in the Heritage Circle newsletter (for supporter of the College through major gifts). He also was very involved with the Council on Aging in his area as a bill-payer for a woman who had been a victim of elder abuse.
While no formal obituary for Tom was available, the 2011 Heritage Circle article made note of a substantial life insurance gift that Tom and his wife, Nancy, made that year. Their gift to the College funded the Thomas and Nancy Robinson ’62 Music Fund to enhance the offerings of the Fine Arts Department, especially the Music Department.
The article tells how Tom grew up on Long Island and chose Saint Michael’s on a football coach’s recommendation, with an initial interest in its pre-engineering program. But he discovered he really liked chemistry and stayed to complete his bachelor’s in that field instead. One of his College highlights at Saint Michael’s was singing in the Glee Club and Chorale, first under then-director John Donoghue when they recorded a record with Louis Armstrong for a concert at Memorial Auditorium the time Armstrong came to Burlington, and later under Dr. William Tortolano, with whom he kept close ties through the years.
Tom enjoyed golf, including having played at St. Andrews in Scotland and in Ireland, and he enjoyed time at Lake Tahoe too.
The 2011 article mentioned that Tom and Nancy had two children at that time. In the absence of an obituary, no word was available about survivors.