Jefferson D. "Jeff" Robinson III 1949 H'88 P'81

Jefferson D. "Jeff" Robinson III, the great gentleman of the Office of Alumni Affairs, died on August 26, 2011. The longtime Gambier resident was eighty-eight years old.

Robinson 1949 H '88 P '81, former director of Alumni Affairs, relished his role as the chief ambassador to College alumni from September 1978 through June 1988, and he was known for his engaging personality and human touch. Jeff and his wife, Annie, made alumni relations a way of life, and their frequent appearances together at regional events helped fortify the bonds between College and alumni.

"Jeff loved Kenyon," said his son, the Rev. Canon Mark K.J. Robinson '81. "From the first time he found himself on the campus it was part of his marrow and always will be."

When former Kenyon President Philip H. Jordan recalls Jeff, he thinks in terms of innate courtesy, unassuming excellence, and quiet warmth. The Robinsons, Jordan said, were first and foremost an inseparable team. "What is striking about them is their love of the College. It is quite authentic, quite enduring. They had a real talent for friendships."

Kenyon's transition into coeducation was well underway when the Robinsons arrived, Jordan said, "But there were still a lot of things that were needed to make it seem the natural state of the College in all dimensions." The Robinsons helped make that happen. "They were a wonderful match for Kenyon at the time." Jeff, Jordan said, was "an uncommon common man."

Lisa Schott '80, managing director of the Philander Chase Corporation and herself a former alumni affairs director, counts both Jeff and Annie as mentors. "He was always upbeat, positive, so friendly," she said. "He was always so engaging with people. That was his real strength as alumni director. He engaged people very easily with his warmth. He was always smiling."

Schott succeeded Jeff as office director in 1988, three years after joining the staff. "I loved working for him. He was a wonderful boss," she said. "A kind, patient, good-mentor boss. He couldn't have been nicer to me. I got three years of good grounding. He taught me to bleed purple."

Jeff served in the U.S. Army 96th Infantry Division during World War II and earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart in the Pacific Theater. He fought in the battles of Leyte Gulf and Okinawa, and he was awarded the Bronze Star for trying to save the life of a fellow soldier at Okinawa.

In 1946, he joined Kenyon as a transfer student from Williams College. He joined Delta Kappa Epsilon and participated in soccer and tennis. After his junior year, Jeff transferred to the University of Toledo, graduating in 1949 with a degree in business administration. Jeff and Annie Kilbourne Jeffrey had married on September 11, 1948, in Worthington, Ohio.

He worked for the Federal Glass Company in Columbus, Ohio, from 1951 to 1966, and became divisional sales manager. He then launched a career in real estate sales. Jeff joined the Danberry Real Estate Company in Toledo, where he became vice president and managing broker. He continued in residential real estate until 1978. Jeff was active in the Boys Club of Toledo.

And he remained active in Kenyon affairs as president of the Toledo Regional Association, chairman of the Toledo Kenyon Fund, and member of the Toledo Admissions Committee. He was elected to Alumni Council in 1976.

Jeff was lured back to Kenyon by Douglas L. Givens, then vice president for development, to replace the retired William H. Thomas Jr. as alumni affairs director. "I got to know him when he was head of the alumni annual fund as a volunteer," Givens said. "He was a gentleman in the old sense. He was a great guy. He was a lot of fun. I don't think he ever met anybody he didn't like, or, if he did, he never told them."

Annie frequently joined her husband on the road at Kenyon alumni events. "They were a team," Givens said. "It was neat. They became sort of the face of the College to generations of Kenyon people."

That includes a new generation of leadership in the alumni affairs office. Scott R. Baker '94 followed Schott in the office in 2010 and has known the Robinsons for years, starting with a family business connection in Toledo. Jeff welcomed Richard Baker Jr. '69, Scott Baker's father, into the Toledo real estate business. "When I think of reunion weekends past, I just think of Annie and Jeff leading the Dekes down Middle Path, singing all the way," Scott Baker said. "To me, he was a legendary ambassador for the College. Jeff was so welcoming."

Jeff once commented on the event he enjoyed the most at Kenyon, Honors Day, "because of the way it seems to touch every source of energy affecting the College." Indeed, on Honors Day in 1988, he was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree. At the time, he said, "I will walk away enjoying an honor that represents an extension of all the special qualities that drew me back to Kenyon." The real honor, he added, was "to serve Kenyon."

The citation read by Professor of English Perry Lentz said, "You and your wife, Annie, have been indefatigable in bringing together the extended family of this College's alumni, renewing hundreds of old friendships within it and establishing even more hundreds of new ones." Lentz noted Jeff's use of purple ink in his correspondence. "Your home has been as open as your heart."

The Alumni Council presented Jeff and Annie with the Thomas B. and Mary M. Greenslade Award in 2009. The award is given to members of the Kenyon family who demonstrate affection and loyalty to the College.

The Kenyon experience has linked generations in the Robinson family. Along with his son Mark, Jeff's grandchildren Virginia Secor Shaw '98 and Caroline Secor Masterson '02 are alumni. Granddaughter Sewell Robinson is part of the Class of 2012.

In addition to Annie, Mark, Virginia, Caroline, and Sewell, survivors include daughter, Trina Robinson Secor; son Jefferson D. Robinson IV; grandchildren Ketch Secor, Christine Robinson, Jefferson D. Robinson V, Frances Robinson, and Florence Robinson; and five great grandchildren. Donations in Jeff's memory may be sent to the Jefferson D. and Anne Jeffrey Robinson Scholarship Fund, College Relations Center, Kenyon College, 105 Chase Avenue, Gambier, Ohio, 43022. The scholarship fund is an endowed fund supporting talented and deserving students.