Latham Augustus Robinson

April 18, 1923 - December 4, 2015

We Thank YouYour prayers and kind words have bolstered our spirits, your faith

has given us strength to endure our sorrow and your many thoughtful deeds have given us great comfort. We thank you and we love you.

The Family of Latham Robinson

PallbearersLatham L. Robinson Robert Haire III Shawn RobinsonDennis Caine Brandon Robinson Rashid O. Ward

Honorary PallbearersDaryl Vaughn Robert L. Haire Marcel Vaughn Cameron Robinson

IntermentSt. Peter’s Cemetery

2101 Lucas and Hunt RoadSt. Louis, MO 63121

Services by Granberry Mortuary

RepastImmediately following services at the church.

Isaiah 43:2: When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walk-est through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

I’ll Be Seeing YouBing Crosby

I’ll be seeing you in all the old familiar placesThat this heart of mine embraces, all day through

In that small cafe, the park across the wayThe children’s carousel, the chestnut trees, the wishing well

I’ll be seeing you in every lovely summer’s dayIn everything that’s light and gay, I’ll always think of you that way

I’ll find you in the mornin’ sun and when the night is newI’ll be looking at the moon but I’ll be seeing you.

Words and design by AfterWordswww.LifeAfterWords.com

Celebration of Life Latham Augustus Robinson

Monday, December 14, 2015, 11 a.m. Peoples Community Christian Church

9501 Weyburn DriveSt. Louis, MO 63136

Pastor Bennie B. Ford, Officiant

Order of ServiceMusical Prelude and Processional

Prayer, Minister Kevin L. Days

Scripture Reading, Minister Eddie HendersonOld Testament: Psalms 61:1-5

New Testament: 2 Timothy 4:7-8 and 2 Corinthians 5:6-8

Song of PraiseAcknowledgments and Condolences

Life Story(Read silently during playing of

“I’ll Be Seeing You” by Bing Crosby)

Song of PraiseTribute to Grandpa, Grandchildren

Robert Haire III, Mildred Christine Haire, Alice Ward, Shaunda Robinson, Alethea Caine and Angela Jackson

Song of Praise

Eulogy, Pastor Ford

Benediction

Recessional

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7

Latham Augustus Robinson was an original mem-ber of Peoples Community Christian Church; his uncle, the Rev. Daniel D. Maiten, was the found-ing pastor and the person who gave him the Bible verse he held in his heart until his passing: Isaiah 43:2. With an outstanding tenor voice, he quickly joined the choir, but the diction of some of the

choir members caused him to soon depart. “Who,” he asked, “ever heard of the River Jerdin?”

He left the choir, but he had only just begun to sing. He joined the Earls of Harmony and emulated the crooners: Perry Como, Dean Martin and his favorite, Bing Crosby. The group sang mostly gospel but they threw in a bit of doo wop just like Gene Chandler, the “Duke of Earl,” from whom they took part of their name.

As he prepared for immortality, Latham found solace in the “Three Ten-ors” (Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Luciano Pavarotti), Bing singing “I’ll Be Seeing You” and a male chorus performing his signature song: “Down by the Riverside.”

A Man of Many TalentsLatham was born and raised in Bonne Terre, Mo., the

oldest of Latham T. Robinson and Leslie Robinson’s five children. Like most blacks in predominantly

white Bonne Terre, he grew up on Fulton Street, which was commonly called the “N-word” Hill by whites. Members of his family now own much of that street where African-American families still live.

He graduated from “colored” Douglas High School in Festus, nearly 30 miles from Bonne

Terre, where he excelled. It’s where he developed his love of language and once won a national

writing contest. He never got his award. He often recounted how he met the two

gentlemen at the train station who were in Bonne Terre to deliver his award.

When they saw that he was “colored,” they said he wasn’t eligible and promptly boarded the next train back to New York.

A $250 Art Institute drawing award also failed to materialize. “They stole my money,” Latham lamented with great humor for the duration of his life.

“He lived through those challenging times,” said his grandson, Robert Haire III,” but he wasn’t jaded or bitter.”

After graduating from high school, Latham began commuting to St. Louis to work. He married Mildred Williams in 1949 and the family moved to St. Louis in 1958. Mildred died in 1963.

He worked in shipping and receiving at West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company in St. Louis for many years. He later joined McDonnell Douglas Aircraft and worked 18 years as a maintenance mechanic before retiring in 1991, the same year he married Rose Cannon.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. and AweIn his spare time and in retirement, Latham kept up the things he’d loved all of his life: singing, drawing animals and portraits and cooking. He could bake a pie; he specialized in apple and lemon. He wasn’t averse to picking up the occasional box of Popeye’s chicken and red beans and rice, accompanied by a Mountain Dew, but when he wanted the real thing he made it himself: Latham Robinson’s fried chicken.

And he continued to write. He wrote many short stories because “you never know where it would take you.” When he wasn’t writing, he indulged his poetic side by reading freestyle verse.

But his talents were not the legacy he hoped to leave. He said he wanted to be remembered for his respect for others.

“He always treated people the way he wanted to be treated,” his grand-son said. “We remember him as a man of great strength who faced a lot of adversity but kept going.”

Humor sustained him. He’d often laughingly recall how his Aunt Margaret Maul Johnson, the second First Lady of Peoples Community Christian Church, would hang him on the clothesline when he didn’t get her store orders right.

Latham marveled at the things he thought he’d never see even in 92 years of living, chief among them color television – he had TVs stacked on top of TVs and watched “The Young and the Restless” and Cardinal baseball simultaneously – and the first black president, Barack Obama.

He had hopes of seeing the first woman president, having declared his intention to vote for Hillary Clinton.

A Talk with GodLatham faced eternity as he did all things: with equanimity and courage. During his recent visit to The Cedars for rehabilita-tion following a stroke, he said, “This is going to take me out, but I’ve been talking to God.”

In addition to his first wife and his par-ents, Latham was also preceded in death by two sons, Richard Robinson and Paul Matthews; a daughter, Doris Bolden;

a brother, Stanley Robinson; three sisters, Dorcas (Roy) Jason, Virgie (Lawrence) Carroll, Rose (Lawrence) Fulton, and two sons-in-law, Fulton Madison and James Washington.

He will be lovingly remembered and greatly missed by his wife, Rose; his children, Sandra Marie (Robert) Haire of Phoenix, Vicki Lynn (Dennis) Caine of St. Louis, Latham L. (Arvella) Robinson of St. Charles, Shirley Washington of St. Louis, Marvin Matthews of Jefferson City, Rachel Madison of Fort Lauderdale, and his stepson, Charles A. (Yolanda) Shores, of Houston; a son-in-law, Tommie Bolden, and a daughter-in-law, Gloria Matthews, both of St. Louis, and a brother-in-law, Charles (Christine) Casey, of Festus.

He will also be mourned by 26 grandchildren, 54 great-grandchildren and 20 great-great-grandchildren.