ROBBINS, CATHERINE "KAY" DOUGLAS MacDONALD - (1924 – 2015) -
Catherine (Kay) Robbins, born on June 15, 1924, in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, passed peacefully in Fredericton on January 16, 2015 with her son and daughter by her side. Kay’s life reads like a history book of a 20th century Canadian woman. Of Loyalist ancestry, Kay was the only child of Hazel Robertson Douglas and William Edwin (Mac) MacDonald, whose work with the Bank of Nova Scotia required the family to relocate many times. Kay started kindergarten in St. John’s, Newfoundland, when it was still a colony; attended elementary school in Summerside, PEI; went to high school at Glebe Collegiate in Ottawa; and graduated in 1945 from MacDonald College of McGill University, winning the Gold Medal in Domestic Science. To the end, she enjoyed visits with two local classmates, Vera Swazey and Jessica Robinson. Kay was predeceased by her husband Maurice Arthur (Rob) Robbins, an electrical engineer. It was love at first sight when their paths crossed in Brockville, Ontario, where Rob was initially sent when he joined the army in World War II. They married in Wall Street United Church in Brockville on September 13, 1944, Kay choosing to omit the vow to “obey.” They briefly honeymooned in Gananoque before Kay returned to university in Montreal and Rob was sent to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, where they eventually reunited. Their two children, Neil Michael and Wendy Joan, are part of the post-war baby boom. Kay was a 1950s-style homemaker par excellence, sewing and knitting the family’s clothes, putting up preserves, making her own syrup for homemade lemonade, and adhering to Dr. Benjamin Spock's "common sense" childcare manual. She was very proud of having one of the country's earliest television sets, built by Rob from scratch in time for the Coronation of Elizabeth II. She loved to watch Wayne and Schuster, Robert Goulet, and “Perry Mason.” Kay was a long-time member of the Ladies’ Auxiliary of St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Ville St. Laurent, Québec, where the family lived at 301 St. Aubin Street from 1952 to 1970. She founded a Brownie pack and served as “Brown Owl” for many years. She loved camping, playing bridge, reading, and celebrating holidays with meals beautifully presented on her “Maritime Rose” china. Most of all, she loved being serenaded by Rob on guitar, which happened most evenings around sunset, especially in their retirement.
Kay’s mantra was “’Tis a great life if you don’t weaken,” and she turned setbacks into great new adventures. When the transistor revolution cost Rob his job at the Canadian Marconi Company, Kay willingly pulled up roots with him and relocated to California—Sunnyvale, Hayward, West Covina, and finally North Hollywood. With her grown children back east, in mid-life Kay again went to university, studying food administration and hotel management. She joined the paid labour force in 1975, working as food service manager at Kellogg West and later at Marriott Hotels' headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. She had become the family's principal breadwinner.
When Kay retired in 1989, she became an active member, president, and then long-time treasurer of the historic Van Nuys Women’s Club. When the Northridge earthquake extensively damaged the clubhouse, Kay’s ingenuity in producing and selling a “no-cook” cookbook helped see them through repairs and ultimately the clubhouse sale. She also helped to write up its 90-year history. Kay enjoyed attending local repertory theatre and big events at the Hollywood Bowl and the Ahmanson Theater. A member of AARP and the Skeptics Society, she knew and admired Michael Schermer, and she became an ardent “right to die” advocate.
Widowed in 2001, Kay took up Tai Chai in her 80s, and she maintained her North Hollywood bungalow and swimming pool for many years. At age 85, she came back home, moving to Fredericton, where daughter Wendy Robbins, a UNB professor, lives. Kay is survived by daughter Wendy and son Neil (Linda Norman) Robbins of Corner Brook, Newfoundland. She has six grandchildren: Chimène (Ram Fish) and Haydon (Ann Freeman) Keitner; and Carol (Jason) Temple, Julie (Murray) Hayes, Douglas (Kim) and Philip Robbins. She has five great-grandchildren: Idan, Shira, and Tali Catherine Fish-Keitner in Menlo Park, California, and Lazlo and Conrad Keitner in Sharon, Massachusetts. Kay celebrated her 90th birthday with a gathering of the clan in Fredericton this past summer. Despite coping with Alzheimer’s for several years and, during her final days, weak with an intractable respiratory infection, Kay tried to comfort others, maintaining that she was “fine.” She looked back on her life as “a beautiful trip.” Selfless and kind as always, when the doting staff at Shannex Parkland rubbed her back, she wanted to rub theirs in return. The family is deeply grateful for the compassionate care she received from the team at Brunswick Hall and from her doctor, Keri van Middlesworth.
At Kay’s request, there will be no formal visitation or funeral (details at www.yorkfh.com). She decided on cremation with the scattering of her ashes over water. She felt that, whether sent out from the east coast or west, she will rejoin her husband, Rob, recognizing all the world’s waterways as one. Personal condolences may be offered through www.yorkfh.com