By: Jim Ahstrom

George Robinson was born in 1926 in Natick, Massachusetts, a town known for the manufacturing of shoes and baseballs. George finished high school in Natick in 1944. That summer, he was a lifeguard in Hyannis Port, and taught Ted Kennedy in his lifeguard class.

Five months later, in December 1944, he joined the Navy, graduating from gunnery school in August 1945. He says that “the Japanese capitulated because they had heard that he joined the Navy.” His tour was spent patrolling the East Coast of the U.S. and playing baseball with Navy teams, being discharged in July 1946.

The GI Bill enabled him to enroll in Boston University where he majored in Marketing. He had done some selling in junior high school where he had gone door to door selling ties hand painted by his sister.

In the winter of 1947–1948, he hitchhiked to Cape Cod to interview for a job selling and delivering milk during the summer. No answer until May 1948, when, surprise, he received a phone call telling him he had the job. Then, for five summers, he sold milk on Cape Cod, often working from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Since it was all commission work, he made quite a bit of money.

Back in Boston that fall, he noted that New England Telephone was hiring. He began his 36-year career with the telephone company in marketing, but soon moved to a more lucrative position in the Billing Department. The last ten years were spent in the Labor Relations Department, before retiring in 1988. From then until this year, he lived in Palm-Aire.

1951 was a big year. George graduated from Boston University, in the same class as his sister. And he got married, fathering four boys in five years and a girl seven years later. His five children have given him three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. George’s first marriage ended in divorce after 20 years and he lost his second wife to illness after 30 years. He met Ginny McIntyre five years ago and moved in with her on August 14, 2015.

George enjoys traveling and has visited Africa, South America, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, and Norway, plus several river cruises in Europe. Interested in sports, he ushered for the Chicago White Sox while they trained here. George was captain of the Over-70s Longwood tennis team. He ran three marathons and still enjoys running, estimating his annual distance at 1,000 miles. He tries to walk 20 miles a week, works out three times a week, and plays golf that often also. For a special birthday celebration, he went skydiving with his son and granddaughter. They jumped at 14,000 feet and had a freefall of 11,000 feet.