Clinton Howard Robins Jr.

Known as “Super Hokie” to his friends, he was a lifelong cheerleader for Virginia Tech, whose outstanding engineering school and co-operative program set him on a stellar career trajectory.

But his first passion was his family. He doted on his wife Pat, his children Staci Leach (Zan) and Clint (Robin), and his grandson Lochlan, 17. Howard monitored and celebrated their victories as diligently as he did his space shots and was tireless with his sagacious advice and support.

Howard also leaves behind a brother, Dr. Richard B. Robins (Goree) and a nephew, Richard B. Robins Jr. (Ruth).

Super Hokie was a true Southern gentleman of affectionate mien and sparkling wit who immediately endeared himself to all he met. He enjoyed cigars and bourbon with his Governors Land neighbors. His morning soliloquies while at the treadmill in the workout room were legendary, covering politics, bad jokes and management techniques.

Howard was born Nov. 20, 1934 in Norfolk to Clinton Howard Robins Sr. and Helen Bailey Robins. He was a proud Virginian who celebrated his state and its history and loved to tease his Yankee friends, who in turn teased back that he was the last surviving officer of the Confederacy.

He spent his co-op program alternating between campus studies at Tech and working at the Langley headquarters of NASA’s precursor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. He joined the agency full-time upon his graduation in 1958.

Howard was instrumental in many historic NASA programs, from primitive early rockets launched from Wallops Island to the International Space Station (ISS).

He moved to Houston to work on America’s first lunar landing, scouting landing sites for the Apollo mission. That is where he met and courted Pat, a NASA employee also working on Apollo. Staci also joined the NASA ranks, and together the family devoted a combined service of nearly 100 years to the space agency.

Howard rose rapidly through NASA’s management ranks, eventually becoming Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Systems Development.

His projects included working on the Viking Project to Mars, Skylab -- America’s first space station mission -- and the International Space Station (ISS).

He was a lifelong student, earning his doctorate in physics in 1967 and a Masters in management engineering from George Washington University. He also attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University.

Super Hokie had a passion for fast cars and a heavy foot to complement it – wrecking two of his beloved black Mustangs. He loved those Mustangs and knew every model and body style Ford ever produced.

Howard advocated three keys to a happy retirement: continued learning to stimulate the mind, community involvement and participation in one’s faith.

While health permitted, Howard volunteered to coach children at the Williamsburg-James City County schools, was a passionate Kiwani, attended Williamsburg community chapel and voraciously consumed multiple newspapers, television news programs and the Great Courses syllabus.

He was also an active participant in and donor to Tech’s alumni group, exhorting every bright young person he met to become a Hokie and live by his beloved school’s motto of “Ut Prosim” – “That I may serve.”

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the "Helen and Clinton Robins Memorial Scholarship" fund at Virginia Tech, which he established in honor of his parents.

Services will be held at Nelsen Funeral Home, 3785 Strawberry Plains Rd., Williamsburg, VA. Visitation will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 6th, with a service to follow at 2:00 PM.