Diana "Dee" L. Robinson

Diana “Dee” Lynn Robinson, 70, of Winfield, died peacefully on Saturday, July 6, 2019, at Geisinger Home Health and Hospice at Maria Hall, Danville.

She was born November 14, 1948, in Washington D.C., a daughter of the late John Gorman Jr. and Dorothy (Kelly) Allen. She and her husband, the late Dennis Edward Robinson, were married April 14, 1978.  Together, they celebrated 41 years of marriage, and Dee celebrated 41 years of always being right.

After graduating high school, Dee became an Operator for Carolina Telephone and Telegraph. She then joined the Air Force, quickly rising through the ranks. She later studied Business and Accounting at Susquehanna University. In 1978, she began her work in public service, serving as Administrative Assistant to then Union County District Attorney Graham Showalter. One year later, she would transfer in the Courthouse and begin work in the Union County Domestic Relations Office as Administrative Assistant. Her organizational skills and budgeting talents were difficult to keep secret however, and just four months later she would be appointed Union County Chief Clerk, serving as the Chief Administrative Officer to the Union County Board of Commissioners. She was awarded Chief Clerk of the Year in the first year it was awarded in 1991 by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.

Dee became Chief Clerk at a time when the office was drastically changing due to new state and federal mandates passed down to county government.  She is credited with keeping Union County up to code through this transition and under her oversight and expertise, the Commissioners were able to assume many grant programs for county, municipal and regional governmental and non-profit bodies.  During her service with Union County, she worked with numerous boards through elections, including helping with the transition from paper to electronic ballots.  She was part of the acquisition of the Union County Government Center on N. 15th Street and Union County Resource Center on Hafer Road.  Dee’s most recent task was assisting in the creation of the Union County Trail Authority.

Dee served on numerous committees for the county including the Pennsylvania County Commissioner Association’s Election Committee, the County Code and Governance Committee, and the Union County Industrial Development Authority, where she was currently serving as secretary.  She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool, PCoRP, where she served longer than any other member, a total of 26 years.  She served as PCoRP’s Secretary and Treasurer and received two awards, the Sherm Doebler Award, which is presented to a county employee in recognition of their outstanding contributions to PCoRP and their county’s risk management program, and the Ron Shearer Award in recognition for her service on the Board of Directors.  Dee was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Counties Workers’ Compensation Trust, PComp, also serving a total of 26 years, serving as Secretary, Treasurer, and chaired the finance committee.  In 2018, she received the Paul Zeigler Award.

Dee was known as a tireless worker who would spend endless hours at her desk, but always found time for lunches with her husband during the work week. At home, she was often found by the fire until all hours of the night reading books or watching Harry Potter marathons with her daughter, Renée. She had a love for any animal she came across, and especially for her own dogs and parrots at home. Dee also enjoyed volunteering at the annual PIAA swim meet at Bucknell University, helping with score and time keeping.

Surviving are two sons Eric Robinson and his wife, Jennifer, of Sacramento, CA, and Mark Robinson; one daughter, Renée Robinson and her fiancé, Lou Tufillaro IV, of Raleigh, NC; two brothers, Michael Allen, of Greenville, NC, and Timothy Allen and his wife, Heather, of Fuquay-Varina, NC; and two grandchildren, Henry and Leigh Robinson.

In addition to her husband and parents, she was predeceased by one brother, John Gorman Allen III.

Friends will be received from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 11, at Cronrath-Grenoble Funeral Home, S. Second and St. Lewis streets, Lewisburg.

A graveside service with full military honors will be held at 10 a.m. Friday in Lewisburg Cemetery with a celebration of life to follow at 1 p.m. at Campus Theatre, 413 Market St. Lewisburg with Rev. John E. Lee, retired United Methodist minister, officiating.

The family will provide the flowers and suggests contributions in Dee’s memory be made to T&D's Cats of the World, PO Box 186, Penns Creek, PA 17862.

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