Martin Robbins' Obituary
There was joy in heaven on June 11, 2017 when the Lord welcomed His faithful servant Martin. He has joined his parents Nola and Walter Robbins. Martin leaves the “prettiest girl he had ever seen”, his loving wife of 69 years, Virginia Davis Robbins, 4 children, Pam Northcutt, Judy Shappley (Perrin), Marty Robbins (Teri) and Sherrie Riley (Johnny), 5 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. He also leaves two sisters, Mattie Belle Pass and Sarah Cantrell and their four children. Martin was born June 18, 1922 in Gladeville Tennessee and spent his youth on the family farm. He was an active member of the 4-H club raising prize winning cattle culminating in his greatest win of the largest steer in the state of Tennessee at the time. He went on to his life at his beloved alma mater, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. His time there was interrupted by World War II but he valiantly served his county participating in one of the most important battles of the war at Mount Cassimo in Italy. The Lord saved him while most of his other comrades died leaving him with serious injuries resulting in a long field hospital stay before being transferred back to the hospital in Nashville. He proudly received the Purple Cross for his valor but rarely spoke of his experiences until late in life humbly relating his story to his children only recently. He left the service and resumed his studies at UT graduating with a degree in agriculture. He went on from there to spend an extremely long and successful career as the General Manager for Massey Ferguson INC, leading award winning sales teams for over 35 years. He was known to lead with fairness and integrity and to this day has enjoyed many long lasting friendships from those groups of fine employees. His greatest joy in life was spending time with Virginia and his family. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather who participated in every family activity, whether it was coaching his son on his peewee baseball team or enjoying his favorite pastime of watching any UT sports game-especially football-cheering them on every Saturday with great joy and at times frustration. He loved the Lord and was a well- known and active member of the Methodist Church for his entire life. He held many responsible positions in his churches and generously donated his time whenever called to serve. He taught us all many things in life but the most important lesson was to love the Lord and treat others as you would yourself. Few men were more loved and respected in life. His family and friends will miss his kind nature and loving smile. His family will welcome friends to his service at Memorial Park Funeral Home on Thursday June 15, 2017 at 1:00 PM with visitation beginning at 11:30AM on Thursday morning. The family would like to thank the Methodist Hospice nursing team and Wade Sitting caregiver for their love and support. His wish in lieu of flowers was donations to Methodist Alliance Hospice in Memphis or Covenant Methodist Church in Cordova.
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