Sharon Robinson

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24 (English Standard Version)

Two lives intertwined, one flesh as scripture says. John Louis Robinson and Sharon Lee (Nee Sprague) Robinson exemplified this concept for over sixty years. Married on 17 December 1959 in Neil and Anne Fry’s living room, they set off on a journey that would take them half-way around the globe and back. Those who knew them could not separate them from each other. While they remained distinct individuals with their own likes, desires, dislikes, and skills, they were forever John and Sharon, a couple rarely separated.

Sharon was born in Detroit, Michigan on 31 May 1935 to Helen and Richard (Dick) Sprague. A few months later, John was born in Hightower Plantation, Arkansas on 17 October 1935 to Louis and Lucille Robinson. He and his mother moved around quite a bit until settling in Edinburg, Texas, where she married Joseph Elliott. Back in Michigan, Sharon grew up the youngest of four children. Her father worked installing draperies and other window treatments, before starting his own successful construction business, specializing in worship buildings. She graduated from Redford High in 1952, lettering in Basketball and Field hockey, while John graduated from El Cerrito High School in El Cerrito, California, where he enjoyed a stellar career in lunch-time sand volleyball. John served in the U.S. Air Force during the early 1950’s, stationed overseas in the Philippine Islands and other locations in the continental United States. While John was out galivanting about the globe, Sharon worked in a variety of jobs, including account manager for Detroit Bell Telephone. Eventually, Sharon made the fateful decision to head out to the small burg of Abilene, Texas to attend Abilene Christian College, and after his discharge, John would do the same. Eventually, they met and decided to marry. They married on 17 December 1959, and John would finish his undergraduate studies with a BA in History and then two years at Pepperdine University earning his MA in History.

Sharon and John had two sons, Matthew and Brian. They spent four years in the Philippines as missionaries returning to Abilene. In Abilene, John assumed the position of professor at Abilene Christian College. As a professor, John somehow found time to play on the NBA (Noon Basketball Association) court. Sharon spent most of her time and energy as a housewife, while she found time to manage the Abilene Christian University Credit Union, serve as an assistant to state representative Gary Thompson, and occasionally help the ACU cafeteria with recipe planning. John taught continually at ACU until 2010, with the exception of two years while he earned his PhD in Latin American History at Texas Christian University. Together, they raised two sons, Matthew and Brian. John and Sharon served faithfully at South Eleventh and Willis Church of Christ, teaching, helping, and serving in various

capacities, influencing several generations of young, and not so young, families. After retirement, John and Sharon moved to Lubbock where he resided until his death on 10 August 2022. With the love of her life gone to heaven, Sharon slowly wound down and passed away peacefully on 16 September, 2023 just over a year after John. They are survived by: Matt and his wife Christy, their children Christopher and his wife Megan, Candace, Timothy, Brian and his children, Gabby, Asher, Braeden, and Noble.