Robert Stanley Robinette

Graveside services will be held on Thursday, March 2nd at 10 a.m. at Smith Mountain Cemetery for former Dinuba resident and long-time Dinuba High School teacher Robert “Stan” Robinette, who died Saturday at the age of 93. Mr. Robinette was born in Guthrie, Oklahoma, in 1923, to Roy & Mildred Robinette. While attending Guthrie High School, where he was the star running back on the football team, Stan met cheerleader Helen Kellogg, whose locker happened to be near his. Helen remembered their first date was on January 28, 1941, when he took her to a high school play. Since his father worked for a florist, Stan presented Helen with a chrysanthemum after each football game she attended. They were married in 1943, the year he began his service in the Army

during WWII. While at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, Stan rose to the rank of acting 1st Sgt., where he was severely wounded by machine gun fire during a live-fire training mishap. He carried some

of the shrapnel from that incident in his body the rest of his life. After completing his Army service, Mr. Robinette played football at the University of Oklahoma for Dewey “Snorter” Luster

before transferring to Central State College in Edmond, where he obtained his degree and teaching credential while playing flanker and defensive end on the football team. Blessed with 9.9 speed in the 100-yard dash, he also competed on the track team, most notably against Oklahoma State (then A&M) All-American QB and sprinter Bob Fenimore, who finished third in the 1945

Heisman trophy voting behind the famous Army backfield of Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis.

Mr. Robinette began his 32-year teaching career in Camas Valley, Oregon, also teaching in Siletz, Oregon, before moving his family to Dinuba, where he would teach from 1954-1981. He taught four

years at the junior high before moving to Dinuba High School, where he taught many subjects, including English, History, Math, Geometry and Social Studies. He is probably most remembered as the long-time driver’s training instructor, where his steady nerves and calm demeanor served him well. Once asked if he received combat pay for doing that job, Stan replied in his typical, low-key fashion that it wasn’t that scary, commenting that, “One girl did put us into a ditch, but I won’t say her name ‘cause I wouldn’t want to embarrass her.” Mr. Robinette continued his love of sports by coaching football, basketball, track and wrestling at various times. He had an encyclopedic

knowledge of modern sports, especially college football, and continued to follow the fortunes of the Oklahoma Sooners. Helen Robinette is also well-remembered in the Dinuba school

district, as the library at Lincoln School is named in her honor. Stan & Helen enjoyed traveling, visiting several European countries, Israel, and the Soviet Union. A humble, self-effacing man

with a thirst for knowledge and a curious intellect, Stan commented that, “I wanted to know what they thought of us (in the U.S.).” He also continued to take many extension courses through

Oregon State University in order to improve his education. Stan & Helen were blessed with four children, all of whom survive him: Reggie Robinette of Modesto, Connie Robinette-Adams of

Clovis, Amelia Robinette-Swenson of Crawford, Colorado, and Barbara Robinette-O’Bar of Clovis, along with four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. The couple celebrated 70 years of marriage just prior to Helen’s passing in June of 2013.