June Robbins Share

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91-year-old Mar­i­on res­i­dent June Rob­bins is going strong to help bring hope and smiles to oth­ers through crafti­ness and creativity.

After retir­ing from 22 years in the cafe­te­ria at Kendall Ele­men­tary, then a cou­ple more as a recorder for Grant Coun­ty Gov­ern­ment, Rob­bins was inspired by a friend who would vol­un­teer at Gilead Min­istries which pro­vides sup­port to those with life-threat­en­ing ill­ness­es. Rob­bins start­ed vol­un­teer­ing in the office, but on her own time start­ed mak­ing lap blan­kets for the patients. To date, she has hand-craft­ed and donat­ed over 100 blan­kets for Gilead as well as many more hand­made items for others. 

Rob­bins has a col­or­ful fac­to­ry of unique cre­ations just wait­ing for a home. There are jar open­ers, tis­sue box cov­ers, purs­es, bags, bead­ed neck­laces, and much more. In her nineties, she con­tin­ues to sew, knit, cro­chet, make jew­el­ry, and even paint rocks. A stack of more blan­kets are await­ing deliv­ery to patients at Gilead, and pil­low cas­es will soon be deliv­ered to the First Light Child Advo­ca­cy Center.

Rob­bins has also brought smiles through 18 years serv­ing as a clown with the retired mis­sion­ary group, Smile Seek­ers. She was named the Smile Seek­er Clown of the Year in 2017.

Rob­bins also remains social with Twin City Bible Bap­tist Church and the XYZ Club stand­ing for ​“Extra Years of Zest” for which she orga­nizes brunch­es each month at dif­fer­ent restaurants.

Rob­bins was born in Jones­boro, attend­ed high school in Swayzee, and has lived in Mar­i­on most of her life. She and her late hus­band, Wayne, have two chil­dren, two grand­chil­dren, two great-grand­chil­dren, and five great-great-grandchildren.