Charles Robbins

Charles Lee Robbins, 89, passed away Monday, March 18, 2019, at home surrounded by his family. He was born on October 29, 1929, the day of the stock market crash that marked the start of the Great Depression, and frequently joked that it was a mere coincidence, his birth alone didn’t bring down the entire economy of the United States. His parents John Adrian Robbins and Frances Watson Robbins moved their family to Bel Air from Martinsburg, West Virginia in 1936.

He attended Bel Air Elementary School and Bel Air High School, both on Gordon Street. He was too young to serve in World War II but joined the U.S. Army as soon as he was old enough, in 1947. He spent two years on Adak Island, in the Aleutians, then part of Alaska Territory, cleaning up from the Japanese invasion of 1942, and was honorably discharged in 1949 as a corporal. He attended the University of Maryland until the Korean War started. Anxious not to miss a second war he immediately enlisted and served with the Second Infantry Division in some of the heaviest fighting on the Korean Peninsula. He was honorably discharged a second time as a Sergeant First Class, having been awarded the Bronze Star and Combat Infantryman’s Badge among other awards and decorations. He had shell fragments in the back of his head for the rest of his life from an ill-advised attempt to cross a Korean valley under observation by Chinese mortar men. His Jeep was hit by the second round and he ended up in the hospital. He never received the Purple Heart for his wound because he went AWOL from the hospital to get back to his unit and get back into the fight.

He returned to Bel Air and attended the Maryland State Teacher’s College (now Towson University) graduating in 1958. He taught for one year at Rising Sun High School before taking a job with Harford County Public Schools in 1959. He taught at several schools throughout Harford County but most enjoyed his time spent at Harford Vo-Tech (now Harford Technical) High School. Following his retirement from Harford County Public Schools after thirty-five years, he worked as a real estate title abstractor for Stark and Keenan, PA, in Bel Air until his declining health caused him to finally retire in 2017.

He married Ann Hamilton Coudon of Perryville, Maryland in 1954. He is survived by his wife, four children, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his younger brother, James Conrad Robbins, of Newark, Delaware and was predeceased by his older brother John Adrian Robbins, Jr. He enjoyed duck and dove hunting as well as trout and bass fishing. He was the author of many of his own school text books and spent almost every summer taking photographs for slide presentations for his students. In 1973 he co-authored, with Mr. Selman G. Wright, a book of black and white photographs of Harford County, Harford Images, an attempt to preserve scenes of rural Harford County rapidly being lost to development. In 1987 he wrote R. Madison Mitchell-His Life and Decoys, a biography and record of his friendship with the well-known Havre de Grace Decoy carver. He served as a Town Commissioner for the Town of Bel Air from 1992-1996. His final days were spent at his Rock Spring Road home of fifty-seven years with his family and his books.

He was a long time member of the Historical Society of Harford County and contributed numerous items and memories to its collections.

A gathering of family and friends will take place on Sunday, April 28, 2019 from 2-4 pm at the Historical Society of Harford County, 143 N. Main Street, Bel Air, MD 21014.

Memorial contributions in his memory may be made to the Historical Society of Harford County at 143 N. Main Street, Bel Air, MD 21014 or https://www.harfordhistory.org/.