randy.cruz@me.com Stan Robbins died April 12, 2011 at St. Luke’s Hospital, just shy of his 71st birthday and shortly after having one of his best days, before falling ill after an otherwise perfect LVAC event — the 5-course dinner and wine tasting fund-raiser sponsored by the Club April 10 at the Hotel Bethlehem (photo above by Linda Paul). During the meal, Stan received words of reassurance about a recovering wrestler and said, befitting his character and concern for others: “Thank you for sharing that …. sometimes, I tend to think of these kids as my own.”
He was the beloved husband of Linda (Owens) Robbins, both of whom have been exceptional wrestling fans and superb volunteers for the Lehigh Valley Athletic Club and Lehigh Wrestling Club, among many community efforts. Throughout their 13+ years marriage, it was difficult to think of one without the other. Together they represented proof that you don’t have to attend Lehigh to be great fans, nor adopt the sport as fanatics at a young age.
Stan was Muhlenberg, Class of ’62 and Linda graduated from Cedar Crest College. About a decade ago, he decided to attend his first Lehigh meet since the Sixties, after following Jon Trenge’s career at Parkland HS. The couple became season ticket holders in 2002-03, then joined the Wrestling Club and attended every post-season tourney since their first Easterns and Nationals in 2004. Stan was never shy about bragging about Linda as a new fan, sharing considerable detail about her penchant for carrying all her wrestling files with her during her indoctrination.
This past year, Stan joined the LVAC Board of Directors and served as assistant treasurer and together he and Linda handled all incoming mail and donations to the Club with utmost care and follow-up reporting. They did the same as new members of the Club’s highly successful and larger Golf Tournament Committee, contributing much to the surge in event surplus. Anyone visiting their cozy Hanover Township home wasn’t surprised to find an entire room or two dedicated to Club promotions.
A jovial ‘live for today’ type of guy and the epitome of ‘good people,’ Stan managed recently to fulfill several dreams on his personal ‘bucket list’ — a (birthday present from Linda) trip in a hot air balloon; attending last year’s Masters Golf Championship and accepting a golf invitation to play with Ted Howells ’68 at Riviera Country Club in California, after helping promote the LVAC raffle trip that Ted donates and sponsors.
For all the love of Lehigh Wrestling displayed by the couple, there was a large flow in the other direction from that Sunday night through Tuesday, as alumni, wrestling coaches and Julie Santoro held vigil throughout. While nearly home to crash on Monday night, Linda took a call from Robert Hamlin, who asked if he, Joe Kennedy and Brandon Hatchett could visit to say goodbye. A longtime lover of the personal side of Lehigh sports, it was an offer she couldn’t refuse. By the time of Stan’s passing on April 12, the wrestlers and coaches were spelled by a dozen LU alumni and spouses rushing back to the hospital after their original Sunday night concerns (including Dick & Camille Molls, Garry & Sandy Paul, Linda & Rich Paul, Roy & Joan Grabner, Bobbi and Dave DeAngelo).
Stan Robbins loved golfing, traveling, cooking, good friends and good wine and his multi-faceted contributions will be missed by more than just Lehigh. During his banking career, Stan (or Stanford, not Stanley, as Linda reminds us) volunteered for Special Olympics, various walkathons, and the couple marshaled at all Betsy King, Senior Opens at Saucon Valley and local LPGA tournaments. Helping Linda in her role as a founding member of “The Perfect Fit” (a boutique for unprivileged women trying to enter the work force), he hauled truckloads of clothes from donation sites without complaint.
As volunteer for two AAUW branches, she was always grateful for his help hauling books and working at book sales, serving as secretary for phone calls and once cutting short a vacation to drive her from Florida to a PA state convention on the way home. They baked cookies for his favorite customers on his route when working part time for AD computer, for the Wrestling Club, their Church and of course for her many AAUW meetings.
Memorial service: 11 am Wednesday April 20th at Holy Trinity Memorial Lutheran Church, 604 Fourth St (4th & Pine Sts), Catasauqua, PA 18032. Call hours from 6:30-8:30 pm Tuesday April 19th at the Brubaker Funeral Home, Inc., 234 Walnut St. Catasauqua, 18032 and also 10-11am at the church. Contributions may be made payable to the Stan Robbins Memorial Fund, c/o Lehigh Valley Athletic Club, P.O. Box 90207, Allentown, PA 18109.
For the full obit: http://www.brubakerfuneralhome.com/index.cfm