Born to Cajetan Sales de Andrade and Frances (Dias) in Indore, India, he spent his early years at boarding school in Nainital and at home in Bombay. Robin’s grandfather, “Big Daddy” Dias, was a medical doctor in Indore and greatly influenced Robin to become a physician. After finishing medical school and postgraduate training in surgery in India, Robin completed a residency in arthritis and physical medicine and received the D. Phys. Med. from the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons of England. From there he moved to Toronto and completed an orthopedic residency at the University of Toronto. While working at Buffalo General Hospital in Buffalo, NY he met and married Patricia Stack and started a family. In 1969, he moved to Atlanta, GA where he spent 35 years practicing as an orthopedic surgeon at Emory University Hospital, specializing in hip and knee replacements. In 1975, he was appointed professor and chairman of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. Dr. de, as he was called at work, performed the first total hip replacement in Georgia. He also performed the first hip replacement on a women and Veteran in Georgia. At the time of his retirement from surgery, he had performed the most replacements in Georgia. Robin was also affiliated with the Veterans Administration Hospital for over 50 years - performing surgery and, most recently, tending to veterans in an outpatient clinic.
In addition to loving his work as an orthopedic surgeon, Robin enjoyed traveling, adventures, and events. He had countless season tickets to the Atlanta Falcons, Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Opera, Chastain Park and ASO concerts. He climbed up Mount Everest to the base camp, sailed in a race across the Atlantic Ocean, rafted the Colorado River and hiked the Grand Canyon, just to name a few of his adventures. Robin also enjoyed physical fitness. He ran the Peachtree Road Race and other races dozens of times and skied as often as possible. He skied North America, South America, Europe, and Japan.
Robin had many virtues including an extraordinary ability to see the positive side of every situation and the best in every person – always. He was cherished and will be deeply missed by his family and many friends. Robin never stopped serving others; he made the word a better place.
Robin is survived by his wife of 52 years, Patricia; 3 children: John de Andrade, Asha (Doug) Leonhardt and Mark (Christina) de Andrade; 7 grandchildren: John Robin, Alec, Erika, Nathaniel, Eli, James and Gabriel; 4 siblings: Phil, Tony (Yolanda), Sandra (Ali), and David (Claire); and many nieces and nephews.
The family will receive visitors at HM Patterson & Son, 173 Allen Road in Sandy Springs on Thursday, January 24 from 6 – 8 p.m. The funeral will be held on Friday, January 25 at 1:30 p.m. at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 4465 Northside Drive in Atlanta. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to Mercy Home for Boys and Girls (www.mercyhome.org), the USO (www.uso.org), and Covenant House (www.covenanthouse.org).
