Terry Robinson

Terry (TR) Robinson was born in Denver, Colorado on December 19, 1952, two months premature and weighing only 4 pounds 6½ ounces. He spent his first 17 days in the hospital until he was strong enough to go home with his parents Richard and Phyllis Robinson. He was the second of three children. He is survived by his mother, Phyllis Robinson, brother, Tyson Robinson (Sue Robinson), and sister, Susan Rogers (John Rogers). He had 4 nieces and nephews; Kristi Walter (Rodney), Kelly Keifert (Lindsey), Katie Keotunian (Nick), and Cody Rogers; 3 great-nephews, Kyle Walter, Christopher Walter (Sarhah), and Aiden Keotunian, and one great-great-niece Coraline Mya-Rae Walter. He was preceded in death by his father, Richard C. Robinson on April 27, 1983. Terry grew up in the Denver area. On his first day of school his Mom asked if he wanted her to walk him to his class, but even at that age he felt the need to be independent, and told her “no he would be okay.” When he was in first grade, and learning to write, he shattered his right elbow trying to do a flip off of the swing set at home. He had to relearn how to write and do everything else using his left hand. The recovery from this severe break was long and extensive, but after several long months of therapy (done mostly at home with the help of his Mom) he regained full function of his right arm and hand but remained left-handed the rest of his life. This ability enabled him to become a very talented basketball player in high school. He was always a very good athlete, and during field day activities he came home with ribbons from every event, mostly blue ones for first place. When he was in junior high school he participated in after-school athletics where he continued to excel. As a sophomore in high school, Terry made the varsity basketball team as a starter where he made the all-state team for all three years he was in High School. The fact that he could use both his right and left hand equally well gave him an advantage over his opponents. He was 6’6” and could jump high enough to dunk a basketball, and sometimes came home with bruises on the back of his arms between the elbow and shoulder where he had hit the rim on his way down. He also excelled in track, and in his senior year (1971) he high jumped 6’8” several times. Terry received a basketball scholarship to UNC in Greeley, CO, where he attended for two years. He became roommates with one of his High School basketball teammates, Lowell Pearson, at UNC. They both developed an interest in selling real estate during that time. Terry soon realized that his talents in basketball wouldn’t lead him to the career he wanted, so after two years at UNC, he transferred to DU Denver, where he took some courses in Real Estate which helped him start his career. Initially, in the late 70’s and early 80’s, Terry worked for a while in South Park, Colorado selling mountain property on the Western Union Ranch. In 1989 he went to work for Golden Eagle Properties where he worked for the next 18 years. Every year there he won awards for either being first, second or third in sales. When they closed their doors, Terry hung his license at Brokers Guild, where he worked until his death on December 02, 2017. Terry liked to work every day, and treated everyone with dignity and respect, and was highly thought of by all his associates. In his lifetime, Terry did some traveling and visited Russia, Iceland, the Black Sea, Amsterdam, Sweden, Ukraine, Nicaragua and Costa Rica to name a few. Some of these places he visited a couple of times. Terry was married and divorced twice. His first wife Fran has remained close to the family, and she and her husband of 20 years, Alan Goodall, attended Living Waters Tabernacle until they moved to Florida in 2015. In the past couple of years, Terry developed some serious health issues. He was first diagnosed with COPD, then in September 2017 he told his family he had stage four colon cancer, and a spot on his liver, which was inconclusive. His health continued to decline, and just before he was to start chemo treatments, he slipped and fell backward down a flight of stairs. He broke six ribs and was transported by ambulance to Swedish Hospital where he was put in the critical care unit for four days before being transferred to the main hospital for another four days. From there he was transferred to Manor House Health Care where he remained until November 13, 2017, at which time he was sent home and taken care of by his friend and roommate, Bill Johnston, with his sister and brother filling in with other needs. He never regained enough strength or energy to return to work, his appetite decreased significantly, and he ate and drank less and less every day. A Kaiser nurse saw him at home on Monday, November 27th, and at her request, a Denver Hospice Care nurse saw him the next day. She informed Terry that they could better manage his pain if he wanted to go to a Hospice facility. Terry signed the paperwork himself that evening and was transported to the Denver Hospice Inpatient Care Center by his sister Sue, where his family was by his bedside every day. His health continued to quickly decline and on Saturday night December 02, 2017 at 9:04 p.m. Terry went to be with the Lord, never to suffer anymore. He was loved by many and will be missed dearly.