Laura Encinas Robinson

Laura Encinas Robinson was born in Jerome, AZ on October 26, 1949, to Nemesio and Vera Gutierrez, and passed away peacefully on April 23, 2025 surrounded by family. She is survived by her devoted husband of 56 years, James “Jimmy” Robinson III. She met Jimmy in high school at Flowing Wells H.S. (class of ’67) here in Tucson where they married shortly after they graduated. She is also survived by her son James “Edmund” Robinson IV (Maria), son Nicholas “Nick” Robinson (Crystal), grandsons James and Christopher, and granddaughters Sedona, Nayeli and Raven. She is also survived by her sister Diane Gutierrez, two nephews Fernando “Fernie” (Laura) and Antonio “Tony” (Anna) and one great niece Lily. Laura spent a career working at the family restaurant, Casa Chimichanga; and a second career working for Homer Davis elementary school as a Teacher’s Aide in the Flowing Wells school district. Laura also worked at the family-owned cake store where she became infamously known in the local community for her cake baking and decorating skills. She was an integral part of many lives where she was known for her incredible birthday, bachelor/bachelorette and wedding cakes. She also went on to teach Wilton cake decorating classes to others in the community. She was an avid reader and especially loved to read westerns, fantasy romance and anything that had werewolves or vampires in it. Her love of dogs led her down a path of breeding and raising several cocker spaniels, rottweilers and doberman pinchers. More than anything, Laura was an incredible artist with more natural talent in her little finger than most have in their entire body. In addition to creating the artwork for the family-owned restaurant, Flowing Wells school district commissioned her to provide the mascot artwork for both Homer Davis and Walter Douglas elementary schools. Not only was she artsy, but super crafty as well…a skill she passed on to her granddaughters. She is remembered as a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister and tia. A memorial service will be held at St. Andrews Presbyterian church, 7650 N Paseo Del Norte, in the chapel on Friday May 9th, 2PM; and to honor Laura’s life, a lunch gathering will take place on Mother’s Day at a family home (please reach out to a family member for details).