Arthur Wayne Robinson

Arthur “Wayne” Robinson, 87, passed away in Bonners Ferry on March 11, 2009 following a brief illness. Graveside services will be held on Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 2:00pm in the Grandview Cemetery in Bonners Ferry. Wayne was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, on September 8, 1921, to Harry Barton and Violet Yockey Robinson. He was the third eldest of eight children born to the Robinson clan – 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, Wyoming, where Wayne attended school. In 1940 Harry and Violet decided to move the family to Idaho because of the depression, drought, grasshoppers, and crop failures they had endured in Wyoming. In May 1940 they loaded up six of their kids and their possessions into a Model A Ford pulling a four-wheeled trailer and headed for northern Idaho. The Model A was not adequate to get the heavy load over the continental divide, so Violet and the kids had to get out and walk over the pass. It took five long 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 a 160-acre parcel of land on Highland Flats for $1,000 – including the 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 his 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 started working as a logger. He married Verna Lee “Penny” Miller on March 17, 1947, in Libby Montana. Wayne and Penny built a home for their new family on the Robinson homestead. Wayne and Penny had three children – Ken, Karen, and Duane, and their family 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 northern 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 has in northern Idaho. He retired in 1986 and he and Penny enjoyed a few brief years of 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 the center for their circle of friends and they 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 (husband Dell) of Bakersfield, California, his sons Ken (wife Charlotte of Otis Orchards), and Duane of Spokane, his daughter Karen of Seattle, his granddaughters Susan (husband Dennis) Budd, of San Francisco, California, and JuliAnn Issler (husband Dustin) of Spokane, his grandson Nick (wife Kellie) of Spokane, his beloved great grandchildren Lucas Issler, Etta Budd, Oliver Budd, Layna Robinson, and Kate Robinson, many Miller family members, and his step-daughter Sandra Fulgham (husband Gene) and the Fulgham family. In lieu of flowers, Wayne’s family asks that donations be made to the Boundary County Hospitality Center in return for the friends and companionship he and Ruth enjoyed there for so many years. Family and friends are invited to sign Wayne’s book at www.bonnersferryfuneralhome.com Arrangement are entrusted to the care of Bonners Ferry Funeral Home.