Dr. William Wayne Robinson

William Wayne Robinson – who thought his given name was Billy Benton after his father Earl Benton Robinson until he was in college and had to procure his birth certificate – was born in the house where his mother Ethel Belle was raised in Fairburn, South Dakota, in the shadow of the Black Hills on January 10, 1934.

Growing up on a farm that was first owned by his grandfather in nearby Oelrichs – where there was not another house or even a tree in sight and hail could ruin a year’s crop in 5 minutes – taught him the value of hard work, of family, and of community.

Billy attended a nearby one-room school through 8th grade before leaving home for Plainview Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school. Upon graduation, he attended Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he decided to become a doctor. He wasn’t sure if he could make the grade, however, until a professor in a German language class one day told the students that even though some in the science departments might say they could not make it, he believed they could, and he wrote in huge letters across the blackboard: W O R K. Bill took this to heart, but he was then not sure how he could afford to attend medical school. Fortunately a classmate put him in touch with her uncle, a physician out west who had helped other students, and he offered to loan Bill the money. This gave him the courage to pursue his calling, though it was eventually his mother’s sister Martha who gave him the loan.

While in college, Bill’s roommate John Westerberg would often visit the home of his friends the Knauss’s in Lincoln, but John never once took Bill with him. It was not until Bill was a medical student at the College of Medical Evangelists (now Loma Linda University) in Loma Linda, California, that he formally met VelmaJean Knauss who had left Union College to study nursing there.

They were married in 1960 just after Bill’s graduation from medical school, and after his internship year at the White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles they moved to Minnesota with the plan of paying off their loans before pursuing their dream of going overseas as missionaries. Their two sons Brett and Greg were born there, both during the 9 months of winter, as Bill would say, rather than the 3 months of poor sledding.

In 1964, having paid off their loans and possibly being tired of tunneling out of their front door through the snow, they moved to Guam where it was definitely warmer, and they served in the mission clinic and neighboring islands for 4 years. It was there that their daughter Lisa was born, and almost died from smallpox.

After serving on Guam, the family moved to Chadron, Nebraska, just 30 miles from the Robinson farm. At Bill’s request and with his support, the small Adventist church there started a Christian school and that little one-room school still serves children today. Four years later they moved to Selah, Washington, near where their college friends Dr. Jay and Sharlene Sloop lived, and where they felt their children would have more opportunities.

With the help of Dr. Stan Wilkinson, Bill established an office as a solo family doctor in Yakima, where he felt it a privilege to practice alongside Dr. Everett Coleman, the physician who had offered to loan him the money to attend medical school. Dr. Robinson, along with his wife and then long-term and valued employees Kari, Laurie and Julie, served the community in this office for 43 years until his retirement 5 years ago at age 81.

As a 4th-generation Adventist and life-long member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Bill’s strong faith guided his decisions throughout his life and shaped the way he served others. He enjoyed singing solos in church accompanied by VelmaJean, and being part of choirs and the Men’s Ensemble. He was an elder at the church (except for the couple of years after he told off the pastor for writing a formal letter of censure to VelmaJean for playing the organ too slowly during congregational singing) and he served as chairman of the local Adventist school board for many years.

Ever since he was a child Bill enjoyed creating art. He painted with oils for years, then acrylics and finally for the past few decades he excelled at using water colors, painting many flowers and western scenes. He also painted large murals at the Yakima Adventist Christian School and the Central Washington State Fair. He loved raising orchids on Guam and always had them in his greenhouses in Selah. He and his wife enjoyed working in their ever-expanding flower gardens, which were featured in the Yakima Area Arboretum’s Garden Tour one year. His flower arrangements consistently graced the front of his church. On his small ranch he raised various animals and up to 50 head of cattle, which he referred to as “the black cows that keep me in the red.” He also enjoyed hiking in the Cascades, gave the boys their first backpacks, and even went backpacking at the age of 76.

Nothing was more important to Bill than his family and his faith. He sacrificed to provide all three children with a Christian education, and continued to support and encourage them throughout their lives in their chosen endeavors. Though they never pushed the kids, the Robinsons were proud that they all chose to become health care professionals.

Bill’s sense of humor was on display until the day he died peacefully on August 22, 2020, following a recent cancer diagnosis. He was surrounded by all of his children. The family is grateful for the caregivers who made it possible for him to remain at his home as he wished.

Bill was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, VelmaJean, and his older sister Barbara, and he is survived by his younger brother Tom and wife Sunny of Boise, Idaho, his sons Brett and wife Susan of Salem, Oregon, and Greg and wife Lois of Gresham, Oregon, and his daughter Lisa of Selah, as well as 7 grandchildren and his loving little dog Peaches.

A celebration will be held outdoors at 1 pm on Sabbath, August 29 at the Yakima Seventh-day Adventist Church at 507 N. 35th Ave. and will be live-streamed at yakimawa.adventistchurch.org. People wishing to attend are welcome to bring chairs and umbrellas, and masks will be available for those who don’t have them.

The family would appreciate it if you would share your memories of Bill via the Add A Memory button below.

Please consider making a donation in Dr. Robinson’s honor to the Yakima Adventist Christian School’s Jay Sloop Student Assistance Fund (www.yacsschool.org).