Mary Ann Robinson

Mary Ann Burgess Robinson
April 14, 1942 - Feb. 23, 2017
Mary Ann Robinson passed away suddenly but peacefully in her sleep at home.
She was born April 14, 1942, to Archie and Irene (Nelson) Burgess, in Antlers, Oklahoma, and was one of eight children. She had five sisters and two brothers. When Mary Ann was young her family moved to Jefferson where Mary Ann attended school. She was an athletic student, lettering in both volleyball and tennis, before graduating from Jefferson High School.
In 1961, Mary Ann met Arvid Robinson, the love of her life. The couple married in 1963 and Mary Ann was blessed to spend 54 years with her best friend.
Together they raised two sons, Scott and Brad, who gifted her with five grandchildren. Family was everything to Mary Ann, she “loved them to the moon and back.” Whether it was a school program or athletic event Mary Ann could always be seen in the audience cheering on first her children and then her grandchildren as they participated in their various activities. She was their biggest fan, but now she will be rooting for them from a higher seat. So fierce was her love of her family that if anyone dared to hurt one of her granddaughters, she would say “I guess that they don’t know your Meme.”
When not attending family activities, Mary Ann enjoyed dancing to country western music and shopping.  Always one to appreciate a bargain, one of Mary Ann’s favorite way to shop was using her “Kohl’s cash.”
For 30 years Mary Ann was employed as a teacher’s assistant at South Shore Elementary in Albany. If she met you and you were single, she would be on the lookout for your perfect mate. Mary Ann was a matchmaker at heart, wanting everyone to be as happily married as she was.
A positive attitude and a quick wit were Mary Ann’s trademarks. She survived cancer twice and collected snowmen, holiday barbies and suns. Her caring went beyond her family and close friends. Children in general were important to her and she gave her time and money to many children’s charities. Mary Ann’s energy and enthusiasm were boundless and she expressed it in many ways, most notably by teaching her granddaughters to do cartwheels and head stands, after all, “every girl needs to know how to do them."
Mary Ann is survived by her best friend and husband, Arvid; son Scott; son and daughter-in-law Brad and Michelle; granddaughters Taylor, Kennedy, Marissa, Khloe and Emma; and sisters Norma, Jan, Judy, Mona and Linda.
Mary Ann was preceded in death by her brothers, Charles and Buzz Burgess; and father and mother Archie and Irene Burgess.
Although Mary Ann was taken from us too soon, she made the most of her time here on earth and we are all better for having had her love.  She was truly an example of how to live a good life and make a difference to her friends, family and community.
A Celebration of life will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 1, at Willamette Community Church.