James Richard Robinson, M.D., a resident of Bossier City, Louisiana, was born May 16, 1937. He died in Shreveport, Louisiana, on April 22, 2023, surrounded by the love of his wife, Donna, as well as his children and family members. A funeral celebration will be held at Asbury United Methodist Church, 3200 Airline Drive, Bossier City, Louisiana, at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, officiated by Rev. Matt Rawle. Private burial will follow at Hill Crest Memorial Funeral Home and Park, 601 US-80, Haughton, LA. Visitation will be at Hill Crest on Tuesday, April 25, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., and at Asbury United Methodist Church on Wednesday, April 26, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.
Born in Mansfield, Louisiana, Jimmy spent his early years traversing the state with his family before settling in Baton Rouge. There, he reached the pinnacle of his athletic career during a sandlot football game, grazing the right shoe of a not-yet-famed Billy Cannon. Combined with poor footing and the grace of gravity, the impact startled the future LSU Tiger star sufficiently to throw him off balance short of the goal line. Thus began and ended the gridiron myth of James Robinson.
Having conquered his sporting goals, Jimmy elected to pursue a more academic path early on. After graduating from Baton Rouge High School in 1955, he attended Louisiana State University where he was a member of the Sigma Chi International Fraternity, as well as the Reserve Officers Training Corps. As an ROTC cadet, he was selected to both the National Society of Pershing Rifles and Scabbard & Blade. Upon graduating in 1959, Jimmy was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He was accepted to LSU Medical School and subsequently transferred to the Air Force.
In 1959, Jimmy married his college sweetheart, Sally Fox. Following his graduation from medical school and an internship at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, they moved to Cocoa Beach, Florida, where the newly minted Doctor Robinson was assigned to Patrick A.F.B. as a flight surgeon, supporting America’s budding space program. Jimmy proudly cared for airmen of all ranks at Patrick, but most especially a lieutenant colonel named Gus Grissom, the second American in space and one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts.
In 1967, Jimmy was transferred to Barksdale A.F.B. He and Sally returned home to Louisiana with their two boys, Jim and Patrick, eventually adding two daughters, Sarah and Emily. Jimmy served the Barksdale community for several years and was honorably discharged from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel. Upon his board certification as an ear, nose, and throat surgeon, he and Sally settled in Shreveport to raise their family. Jimmy opened a private medical practice on Olive Street near Schumpert Hospital. Over their 23-year marriage, he and Sally saw six presidents, bought five homes, raised four children, and lost one. They grew up together and though adversaries for a time after they divorced, they ultimately became and remained friends for more than three decades until Sally’s death in 2020.
Jimmy married a second time in 1984, to Lana Joye Cheatham. In Joye, he found a true love and life partner. Together, they successfully ushered five children through teen-aged angst to adulthood, eventually welcoming four grandchildren. They loved and lived and laughed their way through the countless follies and foibles accompanying a blended family of adolescents. When Joye died in 2002 from an auto accident that left Jimmy critically injured, it left a void from which most men could not recover.
But then again, Jimmy was never “most men.” In 2003, he married a third time, to Donna Pine, for better or for worse. For years they traveled the world together, from Mexico to the Mediterranean, the Texas Hill Country to Times Square, the Baltic Sea to Bossier City, Louisiana, and so many stops in between. They celebrated birthdays and weddings, new grandchildren and eventually great-grandchildren. And when the worse came they survived it together as well. Jimmy grieved with Donna when her son, Scott, was killed in the line of duty. When he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, she battled it with him to the end, holding him as he crossed from this world to the next.
For almost 86 years, Jimmy Robinson was many things. A Louisiana country boy who loved the smell of cut grass and dirt on his hands. A blue-collar doctor who loved his patients. A silly grandfather who laughed freely, hugged fiercely, and planted “magic rocks” after every rain for his grands to discover. He smoked a hell of a brisket, poached a decent egg, and made a pretty good lentil soup (all the way up until he lost the recipe.) He was a Christian and a good man in a world all too short on good men. But more than anything else, he was our Husband, our Dad, our Granddad, and our Friend. We rejoice knowing that he is healed and standing in glory. But we miss him, and we will mark his passing with tears until the memories take hold.
Jimmy was preceded in death by his wife, Lana Joye Cheatham; sons, James Richard Robinson, Jr., and Jonathan Scott Pine; parents, Archie E. Robinson and Susie Koonce Robinson; and older brother, Dr. Archie E. Robinson, Jr. He is survived by his wife, Donna Robinson; son/daughter-in-law, Patrick and Cherie Robinson; daughter/son-in-law, Sarah and John Williams; daughter/son-in-law, Emily and Doug Claycomb; daughter/son-in-law, Erin and Gary Foster; son/daughter-in-law, Andy and Ashton Wells; daughter, Angela Mills; daughter-in-law, Bridget Pine; grandchildren, Tim (Keely), Katie (Frankie), Rebecca (Parker), Drew, Graham, Caroline, Baylee, Hayden (Kelbi), Parker, Haley, Ryker, and Maddox; great-grandchildren, Parker, Mac, Luca, Campbell, Sutter, and Hudson; brother/sister-in-law, Dr. Bill and Ann Robinson; brother/sister-in-law, Terry and Sue Cheatham; as well as nieces, nephews, and other assorted in-laws, out-laws, and friends too numerous to list but all cherished.
The Robinson Family extends their gratitude to the women who cared for Jimmy over his last months, especially Danette, Koko, Joanne, and Patty. They are the angels who walk among us. Likewise, to Jimmy’s nephew, Dr. Dean Robinson, for his years of love and friendship. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations may be made to The Parkinson’s Foundation www.parkinson.org and/or similar organizations fighting to cure this awful disease.
