Laron Robinson

Laron Dale Robinson of Bellaire, Texas passed away peacefully in his sleep on August 12, 2016. Born in Morrilton, Arkansas and raised in Gainesville, Texas, Laron worked hard to provide for his family, making his own way from humble beginnings growing up in a small town fire station to become an accomplished Houston trial attorney.

Laron is survived by the love of his life, Jana Robinson, with whom he enjoyed 43 love-filled years of marriage, as well as their adult children, Andrew and Lauren Robinson. Laron is also survived by his beloved aunts, Anna Robinson and Mattie Crockett, and by his three brothers, Herbert, Larry, and Charles Robinson.

Laron lived life guided by his core values of honesty, loyalty, and justice. He loathed hypocrisy and those who would take advantage of the disenfranchised.

He believed that we are all responsible for doing the necessary work to better oneself, achieve one’s goals, but never to do so at someone else’s expense. He taught that although this does not come easy, each person has the strength and resources inside themselves to accomplish their goals. He often conveyed this humorously to his family, quoting from the movie The Last Detail, “You ARE the shore patrol!”

He approached challenges with a constant, energetic pursuit of knowledge and self-education. He demanded excellence from himself and encouraged it in others. Laron was born with the desire to achieve great things and with the will to make them possible and to make the world a better place.

After graduating from Gainesville High School in 1964, Laron immediately entered the U.S. Army. He began his higher education at what is now North Central Texas College and received his B.A. from North Texas State University in 1970. Laron then attended the University of Houston Law Center and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1973. As a lawyer, Laron spoke on behalf of citizens who were damaged by misconduct and negligence. With his friend and partner, William Michael Leebron II, he founded the law firm Leebron & Robinson. Laron worked hard to reach great success, overcame many obstacles, and yet never forgot where he came from. He was a generous man of great integrity. He possessed an uncommon intellect and memory. Laron also had a gift for helping and educating others, he taught his friends, colleagues and family the value of hard work and the crucial need for fairness. His life demonstrated that integrity brings its own rewards, adding value directly to the world by helping others, and indirectly by inspiring others to be their best selves.

As one of his oldest friends said, “Laron was my hero.” Laron was in many ways an intellectual, solitary, singular man. Yet his deep capacity for empathy and his genuine concern for the welfare of others created networks of rich relationships. He built friendships with people from all walks of life. Laron enjoyed spending time with his wife, traveling with his family, reading the histories of great leaders, studying American and European history, listening to his children’s musical endeavors, playing the lottery, the piano, and volunteering his great story-telling gifts as a docent at the Holocaust Museum Houston.

Laron is buried at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery and donations in his memory can be made to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. We love and miss you, Laron, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.

HTTPS://gifts.mdanderson.org - and there is a tab to donate in memory.