WATERTOWN, NY —Â Dorothy D. Robinson, 96, passed away Sept. 5, 2019, at Samaritan Summit Village in Watertown.
Dottie was born on Feb. 1, 1923, in Washington D.C., Â the first child of Joseph L. and Mildred Watts Durland. As a child, she moved with her family to Middletown, NY, where she attended Middletown High School.
She graduated in 1941 and continued her education at St. Lawrence University in Canton, graduating cum laude with a bachelor’s of arts degree in February of 1945.
Dottie worked in customer service for the phone company in Kingston, New York until she moved to Watertown to marry Edson E. Robinson, Jr. on March 28, 1948. Together they owned and operated Robinson’s in the Arcade, for thirty two years. They retired in Watertown in 1987.
Dottie was active in her community serving on the Trinity Episcopal Church vestry and as chairman of the alter guild, volunteering on the House of the Good Samaritan, and later, the Samaritan Medical Center’s women’s hospital auxiliary, and volunteering in the gift shop, and was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She and Ed spent many summers at their cottage on Lake Ontario and especially enjoyed traveling to Europe and Great Britain, golf and bridge. Dottie was an avid reader, family historian, and remained a true academic for most of her life. She was adored by her and her husband’s extended families.
Dottie was preceded by her husband of 63 years on  Nov. 8, 2011, her parents, and her sister, Joanne Van Slyke. She is survived by her sister’s three children: Peter, Thomas and Tryntje Van Slyke, many members of her extended Robinson family, and her devoted caregiver, Rose Rickard.
A funeral service is planned 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Watertown.
