Paul Robison Obituary

Local real estate instructor Paul M. Robison died of complications from a stroke Tuesday, March 3, 2009, in Durango. He was 78.

Mr. Robison was born Jan. 4, 1931, in Oberlin, Kan., to Elmer L. and Clara A. Robison. His father was an itinerant farm worker during the Great Depression. He moved the family to Denver in 1935 when he found work as an apprentice at a floor covering firm and later moved the family to Glenwood Springs in 1941.

After his father became a pastor, Mr. Robison moved with his family around the West to towns in Colorado, Kansas and Montana. The family settled in Anaconda, Mont., in 1947. Mr. Robison graduated from Anaconda High School in 1949.

Later that year, Mr. Robison began classes at the University of Denver as a pre-seminary student. Mr. Robison, a lifelong hockey fan, was proud to begin his career at DU the same year the school founded its storied hockey program.

Mr. Robison married Nancy Shapleigh in January 1953 in Anaconda. Later that year, Mr. Robison was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served in the Korean War as a radio operator and then as a cook with the Seventh Signal Company.

He left the Army in 1955 and enrolled in the University of Montana, majoring in speech and minoring in sociology. During this time, Mr. Robison worked as a night orderly at St. Patrick's Hospital in Missoula to support his wife and children. He graduated in 1958 and then spent a year teaching speech, social studies and special education in Pasco, Wash.

In 1959, he took a position as director of Christian education at the First Methodist Church in Denver.

He then entered Iliff School of Theology in Denver and served as pastor to two churches in St. Francis, Kan. The Robisons divorced in 1962, and Mr. Robison moved back to Denver that year.

Mr. Robison was a special education teacher in the Denver Public School System for the next eight years. During this time, he also was the director of an adult singles group at Christ United Methodist Church in Denver called the Luncheoners. He also founded a theater group sponsored by the Denver Council of Churches, the Denver Young Adult Players.

He met his future wife, Hazel Mutch, at the meetings of a Christian square dance group, the Fiddlesteppers. They were married March 7, 1970, and continued to square dance often until his death.

Mr. Robison started a new career in real estate in 1970. In May 1978, he became the director of the Southwest Colorado Division of Jones Real Estate Colleges Inc., which led to the couple moving to Durango. He taught pre-licensing and continuing education courses in Durango and surrounding areas for almost 20 years. He was an active member of the Durango Area Real Estate Association and the Colorado Real Estate Association.

In 1979, Mr. and Mrs. Robison founded the San Juan Swingers Dance Club, which still meets regularly.

Mr. Robison also was active in the Durango Barbershop Harmony Society for 32 years and was a longtime member of First United Methodist Church of Durango.

He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Hazel, of Durango; daughters, Debi Silletti of Spokane and Boni Merchant of Wenatchee, Wash.; sons, Kenneth Robison of Spokane and Gerry Robison of Denver; brothers, Luther Robison of Big Timber, and Ira Robison of Billings, Mont.; sister, Maxine Kimmel of Ronan, Mont.; seven grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews and scores of friends.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, March 16, 2009, at First United Methodist Church of Durango. A reception will be after the service. Memorial donations may be made to the Barbershop Harmony Society, First United Methodist Church of Durango, or to an organization of the donor's choice.

Interment will occur in the columbarium at Hillside Cemetery in Durango.