- Date Of Birth: May 30, 1943
- Date Of Death: August 13, 2022
- State: North Carolina
Roger Lee Robinette was born to the late Walter Brown Robinette, a carpenter, and Marie Opal Counts Robinette, a homemaker, on May 30, 1943 in Salem, Virginia. Relocating as a young boy to Coeburn, Virginia, he found ample opportunity for his favorite pastimes of camping, hunting and fishing. Even after surviving polio as a child, he still excelled in sports, helping take the Coeburn Blue Knights to the Virginia State Basketball Championship final game. He played college basketball for the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, then called Clinch Valley College of UVA and for Tusculum University.
Having met and married his wife, Mary Joe Jamison, he joined the United States Air Force, where he attended Syracuse University to learn the Russian language. He often used this knowledge to break the ice with anyone he met by sharing the longest word of the Russian language or singing to them a Russian folk song. He served four years in the Air Force as a Linguist in Istanbul and Ankara Turkey, where his wife, Jamie, joined him for the remainder of his Air Force service.
Roger is survived by his daughters, Leslie Jayne Bunner and her husband Thomas Mason Bunner, Jr., and Aimee Leigh Robinette; grandchildren Zachary, Joseph and Revaya Bunner; siblings Mary Lou Moore, Iona Mae Nixon, Glenn Steven Robinette and Mark Clifton Robinette. Roger’s wife Mary Joe Jamison Robinette and sister, Shelby Joyce Snapp, preceded him in death. While Roger loved and would rarely miss a Robinette Family Reunion on Robinette Mountain near Coeburn, Virginia, his greatest pleasure was reuniting with his High School friends during their annual reunions. He and Jamie would count the days, waiting for the next reunion.
Roger enjoyed regaling his friends and family with stories from his youth and beyond. You could always depend on hearing a great adventure regarding his athletic prowess, hunting expertise, fishing skills, motorcycling thrills and billiards abilities.
