Terry Robinson

Terry Wesley Robinson, such a wonderful, caring, generous person, left us on September 9th, 2021 after fighting head and neck cancer for over 2 1/2 years.  He will be truly missed by all of those who have ever known him.  He will never be forgotten and will always be in our hearts.

Visitation will be Saturday, October 9, 2021 from 3-5:00 p.m. at the Sliefert Funeral Home in Storm Lake, Iowa. A Christmas themed Open House will be Sunday, October 10, 2021 from 3:30-7:00 p.m. at the Marathon Community Center in Marathon, Iowa. Burial will be Monday, October 11, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at the Poland Township Cemetery in Marathon, Iowa. The family requests that cologne and perfume are to not be worn due to illnesses that can occur. The Sliefert Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of arrangements.

He is survived by his wife, Beverly Gorman Robinson, his mother Betty Robinson of Spencer, his sisters Bonnie of Perry (husband Andrew Hoyt, son Tony Putnam and daughter Tracey Bailey), Becky of Lake Park (husband Tim Newbrough, sons Chris and Kenneth Laidig), and Sarah (husband Shannon Threlkeld) of Bloomington, Indiana, and his brothers Bob and Larry of Marathon, Todd (daughters Isabelle and Mallory) of Coppell, Texas, and Chad of Sioux Rapids.  His beloved sister Barbara Zevenbergen of Storm Lake left us in 2016, survived by her husband Jerry, sons Mark (daughter Jada and son Micah) of Shakopee, Minnesota and Jason of Alta, and daughters Jill (husband John McGrane and sons Henry Joseph and Owen Avery) of Richmond, Virginia, and Rachel Hausenclever (husband, Nick, sons Ryker and Zander and daughter Aria) of Fort Madison.

The Robinson family also includes many grand nieces and nephews, as well as great grand nieces and nephews. 

Terry is also survived by his wife's family, who he treasured and considered immediate family.  This includes Beverly's sister, Shirley Gorman of Spencerport, New York, and their late brother, Dale Gorman's family:  widow Pam Brewer and step-son Greg Fillingane (wife Pam, son Dylan, and daughters Alyssa and Natalie) of Jackson, Mississippi, and daughter Amanda Gorman Arnold, (husband Ryan and sons Patrick, Garrett, and Jaxon) of Monclova.

While so sadly cut short, Terry lived such a successful and happy life.  His main focus in life was family and friends, for which he did many things over the years, including buying a house for his mother to live in shortly after starting his career out of college, taking her, as well as others, on amazing trips, providing love and support over the years, and being there when needed.  In the cemetery where Terry is going to be buried in Marathon, Iowa, he designed and created a beautiful family plot, including gravestones for all of his brothers and sisters, a family memorial, and two benches, as well as plots available for many other members of the family.       

Terry's favorite time of year was Christmas, during which he always showed his caring and generosity.  One of his favorite memories was when he and Beverly surprised the family with a major blowout Christmas party at the Everly Community Center in 2007, during part of which Terry was dressed as Santa Claus.  

Terry also planned and personally catered many other events, such as parties on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend in Marathon and a 2-day event for his mother's 90th birthday.  Terry also hosted many parties, get-togethers, and visitations of friends, co-workers, and family in Illinois, Arizona, and New York.  Most were amazed at what an excellent cook, baker, and grill master he was.

Terry was a major sun worshiper and loved going to beaches, including Aruba, Cancun, Hawaii, Florida, and others.  In 2011, Terry and Beverly bought a house in Scottsdale. Arizona, where they lived most of the year.  They were also building a house in Kendall, New York, where Terry planned to enjoy his favorite hobby, gardening, and using the fruits and vegetables to create amazing things such as his incredible pasta sauces and jams.  They also built a pole barn, half of which was to be a processing kitchen and party center.  The other half was to be a garage with lifts, as Terry planned to restore many of the classic cars he accumulated over the years beginning when he was a very young boy.  

Terry and Beverly met while working at Philip Morris in the late eighties, where they became very close friends.  Their relationship then turned into the love of their lives and, after being together for over 7 years, were married in Las Vegas in 1998.  Throughout the rest of his life, they were the happiest, most dedicated a couple could be.  The hole in her heart will never heal, but she will never be more grateful for anything in life than the time she was able to spend with the most wonderful, cherished person in the world.  In addition to their favorite songs, such as Hotel California by the Eagles, the songs that will always be in her heart about Terry is Close to You by the Carpenters and Merry Christmas, Darling by the Carpenters, as there were many years when Terry spent Christmas with his family in Iowa, during which Terry and Beverly celebrated Christmas on New Year's Eve, their second favorite holiday.

While they didn't have any human children, Terry was the best father ever to their two miniature dachshunds, Cody, who left us in 2018, and Sadie, who also fought cancer for over 2 years and left us in 2020, as well as a little dwarf bunny, Bunny, who left us in 2012.  Terry was also a wonderful grandfather to Cody and Sadie's puppies, Fluffy Boy (Buster), Middle Boy (Eddie), Little Girl (Lulu), and Yoda (Manny), all of whom are with friends and family.  Terry is also survived by their miniature dachshund, Molly, who is 7 1/2 months old, who provided tremendous emotional support for Terry in his last few months and is now doing the same for her Mom, Beverly.

Terry was an extremely hard worker throughout his life, starting with a paper route when he was very young, working as a lifeguard and performing many other tasks at the Marathon Park, and doing various other things.  Terry graduated from Laurens high school in 1978 as valedictorian of his class.  After graduating from Iowa State University, Terry began his corporate career at Oscar Mayer, where he, as a new, inexperienced employee, created a claims system for the entire company.  He then transferred to Philip Morris as a lead systems auditor, where he was one of their most hardworking, dedicated, liked, and respected auditors worldwide.  During that time, Terry travelled all over the world to perform audits.  He later transferred to Kraft Foods in Illinois, where he was worked in Customer Service, then Sales.  He became Director of Sales Systems at Kraft, then later at Mondelez, a spin-off of Kraft, where he retired in 2016.  Terry was admired, respected, and loved by virtually everyone he worked with, as has been expressed lately by many of his colleagues.

Terry is also a friend to many people around the country, many of whom will not be able to make it to the funeral but have reached out to express how much they love and admired him, how devastatedly sad they are of losing him, and how much they will miss him.  

For those who are able to be there, to say goodbye to Terry and honor his wishes, his funeral is going to be a 3-day event this weekend.  The hours will be:

- Saturday, October 9th from 3-5 pm - viewing at Sliefert's Funeral Home in Storm Lake

- Sunday, October 10th from 3:30-7 pm - a Christmas theme party at the Marathon Community Center to celebrate Terry's life

- Monday, October 11th at 11 am - burial at the Poland Township Cemetery in Marathon, Iowa

If anyone has any thoughts to share, they can be added to the Sliefert's tribute wall on-line or emailed to his wife, Beverly, at b_t_robinson@yahoo.com (underscores between the b and t and between the t and r) 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Terry Robinson, please visit our floral store.