Robin Finley

Robin Finley, 69, of Raleigh, died March 15, 2015, after a seven year battle with cancer. In 1971, Robin began teaching language arts, which she taught for 34 years in California, Alaska, and North Carolina before retiring in 2001. Twenty of those years were spent at Hanshew Middle School in Anchorage. She began writing a program in 1981 called Analytical Grammar. This was a program to help teach grammar and English to her students after her department chairs wouldn’t buy grammar texts for her to use in her classroom. After many years of tweaking the program and retiring from the school system, she began her own business alongside her daughter, Erin, to provide the Analytical Grammar product to home-schoolers. She always took great pride in her work and enjoyed helping parents plan the path for their children’s education. Among her other accomplishments, she wrote The Eternal Argument, a framework for understanding Western literature and culture.

Robin was a funny, vivacious and opinionated woman who loved to read. She loved North Carolina, a place where she has called home since her retirement. She was also a devoted member of Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, where she enjoyed singing with the choir.

Left to cherish her memory is her daughter, Erin Karl and her husband, Rob; grandchildren, Madeleine and Tripp Karl; and brothers, William T. Clemons III and his wife Carolyn, and George Clemons. Robin was preceded in death by her parents, Marjorie Bell and William T. Clemons, II.

A funeral service will be held Thursday, March 19th, 2015, at 1 p.m., at Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, 1050 Northwest Maynard Rd., Cary, N.C. Burial will follow at Raleigh Memorial Park, 7501 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh, N.C. Robin’s mother Marjorie Bell died January 30th. A memorial service to honor both Robin and Marjorie will be held March 28th, 2015, at 3 p.m., also at Good Shepard UCC.