Kathleen "Kay" Robinson

A celebration of life for Kathleen “Kay” Friedli Robinson, 77, of Tyler, will be held on Saturday, January 25 at 3:30 at Stewart Family Funeral Home, 7525 Old Jacksonville Highway, in Tyler with Dr. Paul Powell officiating. Family visitation will immediately follow the service. Interment will be at Sparkman Hillcrest Mausoleum in Dallas,Texas under the direction of Sparkman Hillcrest Funeral Home and Cemetery. Mrs. Robinson passed away peacefully in the presence of her loving family on January 20, 2014 in Houston, Texas. She was born May 5, 1936 in Peoria, Illinois to John Calvin and Catherine Maigret Friedli. Kay’s adventurous Illinois childhood included ice skating on ponds, ballet and toe dancing during the winter. At the beginning of each summer, she rode the train to Sheboygan to spend her summer at Lake Michigan. She spent her summers in a cottage on the shore of Lake Michigan where she and her cousins rode horses on the beach and reconnected with the local children for summer fun and mischief. Upon moving to Dallas at the age of 14, she quickly made new friends and continued her love of lake activities and school dances around White Rock Lake. Kay graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas and then attended the University of Oklahoma where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. In 1964, Kay’s husband was transferred to Tyler. Tyler quickly became a new home town for their family. Her early career included a position with the late Texas Senator Peyton McKnight which she described as a “most fascinating, exciting experience” and then a management position at the Tyler office of the Texas State Comptroller of Public Accounts. In 1985, city leaders including Dub Riter, Henry Bell Jr., Bill Martin, and Bob Randall helped establish the Better Business Bureau which was also a project of the Chamber’s Economic Development Council. The Tyler BBB office opened in 1985 with the Longview BBB office opening in 1998. Kay served as the first president of the Bureau, which served 19 East Texas counties until her retirement in August 2009. During Kay’s tenure at the Bureau, she served on the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce board, the Crisis Center board, the Tyler Area Builders Association board, the Zonta board, the Mayor’s Anti-Crime Task Force, the Clean Tyler Commission, and the Chamber’s Senior Resource Committee. She is a graduate of Leadership Foundation of New East Texas Class III and was a Leadership Tyler Class VIII participant. She was a member of Tyler Rotary and Tyler Executive Women’s Network. She also enjoyed a Bridge club, of over 30 years, of life-long Tyler friends. Kay enjoyed adventure, both in her career and personal life. She was always ready to have fun and her favorite vacation spots were “anywhere near the ocean, lake, or on a boat.” Kay and her husband, Tom Robinson, shared a love of animals, traveling with friends, and especially boating at Lake Tyler. Kay’s happiest times were with her husband Tom, their children, and grandchildren while on their barge at Lake Tyler and during family holidays in Granbury, Texas. Kay is preceded in death by her husband Thomas Edward Robinson, Jr., parents John Calvin and Catherine Maigret Friedli, and her daughter Shannon Lyn Herrin. She is survived by her loving family including a daughter Cherie Herrin King and her husband Steve of Flint; brother John David Friedli of Dallas; stepson Thomas E. Robinson III and his wife Liz of Austin; grandchildren Matthew Stephen Goughnour and Katy Shannon Goughnour, of Houston, and Thomas E. Robinson IV and Merrill A. Robinson, of Austin; nephew John D. Friedli, Jr. and his wife Onika of Trinidad. If desired, memorials may be made to any Hospice organization; Shriners’ Hospitals for Children, 2900 Rocky Point Dr., Tampa, FL 33607; or a charity of choice.

Kathleen "Kay" Robinson

May 5, 1936 - January 20, 2014