ROBINSON Frances Clare Abts Robinson, 94, died on May 26, 2017, after battling Alzheimer's disease. Her husband Robert Dale Robinson and infant Teresa Clare predeceased her. Remaining family members are children Marc (Susan Miller), Cynthia (David McMurray), Craig (Peggy), Jeff (Larri), and Michael, and five grandchildren and four great- grandchildren. Frances was born to Morris and Catherine Abts on September 17, 1922, in Iola, Kansas, the fifth of six children. She graduated from Iola High School, Iola Junior College, and the University of Kansas. She met Dale Robinson at KU, where they studied journalism. They earned degrees in 1944 and married in 1947. She was the first woman to cover the police and courthouse beat for the Kansas City Kansan. Her coverage of the devastating 1951 flood earned her bylines across the country. Frances helped Dale build a typesetting business, which had several locations and names before it became Mission Photocomposition, a pioneer in computerized typesetting in the 1960s. After they sold the business, Frances worked in graphic arts at an insurance company and a printing plant. Frances belonged to Theta Sigma Phi, now Women in Communications. For many years, she hosted their holiday party at her home south of the Country Club Plaza. After retirement, Frances helped raise her grandchildren. She excelled at nursing the sick and nourishing the hungry. After she moved to assisted living in 2013, she treated others to her signature phrase, "I'm dandy!" She coped with challenges in family, career, and health that would have felled a less cheerful person. Family members request no flowers, please. If you wish to make a memorial contribution, please consider the University of Kansas Alumni Association or the Alzheimer's Association Heart of America Chapter. A Celebration of Life and a luncheon are scheduled for June 5, 2017, at noon at the Overland Park Chapel, 8201 Metcalf, Overland Park, Kansas 66204. Please celebrate Frances by wearing a cheerful color, especially her favorite, yellow. Fond memories and condolences may be be left at: www.overlandparkchapel.com Overland Park Chapel, 913-648-6224, www.overlandparkchapel.com
Published in Kansas City Star on June 2, 2017