Leaving a Legacy
A local philanthropists passes away
Today’s edition is a little different. In fact, you are getting a sneak-peak of my other substack publication, Civic Capacity, a place where I talk about the decisions being made by our hometown and how those decisions are impacting our quality of life.
Recently, a local philanthropist passed away. He and his wife’s generosity meant so much to our non-profit community that his story needs to be told to a wider audience. The impact of Pat and Thom Robinson was more than just this little sliver of Ohio; he gave to causes across Ohio.
My hope with today’s piece is that you can think of others in your community that have made a huge impact through their geneorsity and ponder about the legacy that they are leaving behind and the work that others will do to take their place.
On January 28th, Thom Robinson passed away leaving a void in this community that will not easily be felt. To say that Thom Robinson was a philanthropist, doesn’t necessarily give justice to the good work he and his wife Pat did for the community for so many years. I recently spent some time with Ted Mercer, a close friend of Thom’s, who recollected not only his mentor’s work, but the resounding love for the town he called home.
Thomas Robinson was born here in Troy 1931, at the height of the Great Depression. He married his sweetheart Pat in the Summer of 1953. Together they had two children. But, throughout his 93 years of life, Thom touches countless lives of those that are blessed enough to call themselves Trojans.
“There are people who were touched by Pat and Thom Robinson and they never even realized it,” said Mr. Mercer. Sitting there with Mr. Mercer, he talked about how Pat and Thom started the Robinson Fund back in 1984. They were committed to supporting non-profit organizations and as the fund grew, the focus became more and more on Miami County and the people who live here.
The first beneficiaries of the fund was the Ruth Lyons’ Children's Fund, a long time benevolent effort undertaken by Cincinnati television personality Ruth Lyons. But over the years, Pat and Thom focused more energy and resources closer to home. Over the years, projects for Miami County Health Partners, the Dayton Children’s Medical Center, Clear Creek Farm, the Miami County YMCA, the Lincoln Community Center, the WACO Air Museum and Aviation Learning Center, Troy Memorial Stadium and Habitat for Humanity, all received generous donations for ambitious and transformative capital projects that improved our quality of life. The recently opened Robinson Reserve at Duke Park shows a commitment to creating beautiful places for our neighbors to enjoy. Investments in in Edison State Community College and Urbana University showed how much value Pat and Thom put into education as a way to not only improve one’s own life, but improve the community.
But, as many non-profits understand, it’s those programming dollars that are often more impactful, but less publicized. “Pat and Thom loved the Troy Pop Rocks Program and would help get them busses to go to their different events,” said Mr. Mercer. “For years, they quietly funded efforts to put Christmas lights up on the river levee here in town.” The Robinson Fund helped play a critical role in funding programming at the Brukner Nature Center, the annual Mayor’s Concert and also Troy Main Street’s Sculptures on the Square program, just to name a few.
And if the Troy community was a passion to the Robinson’s, so was Ohio State University, especially one particular aspect of the Buckeye culture. “Thom loved the marching band,” said Mr Mercer. “He was very generous to those musicians and understood how important they were to the gameday experience for those on the field and those in the seats.” The Robinsons also made donations to the university’s library system as well.
The passing of Thom Robinson is not only a time to recollect what we have lost and to be thankful for the amazing generosity our community has benefitted, but it leaves open more difficult and challenging thoughts.
As Mr. Mercer said, “Who are the next Pat and Thom Robinsons? What legacy will they leave behind?”
It’s a hard question to answer.
As much as we think we live in a community that is made by the individual’s sheer grit and determination, that isn’t always the case. The people who call Troy home are truly living on the shoulders of giants, and we benefit from their hard work, whether we recognize it or not. Simply walk through the Troy Hall of Fame at the Arena, and you will see the names and histories of kindness and generosity of men and women that weren’t just called to do well for themselves, but they were called to do better for their community. Names like Hobart, Meeker, Johnson, Duke. Now, we can add the name Robinson.
Just like Mr. Mercer, I also wonder who will be the next generation of Pat and Thom Robinsons that will continue to make our hometown more than just a collection of houses and businesses, but a true community. For anyone who has lived here for any period of time, Troy is a very special and resilient hometown, we have seen our share of good times and bad times. But, through it all, our community has always been home. A place that we should feel welcome and free to create our hopes and dreams.
Our future without generous philanthropists like Thom Robinson will certainly be different. But I am very optimistic that others will take the good work of the Robinson’s and move it forward and our town will be a stronger and better hometown for it.
That’s what building a legacy really means.