Richard Henry Robinson

Richard H. Robinson of Golden Valley died Wednesday, April 26, from congestive heart failure. He was 87. Richard was a loving father of his four children and a father-figure for young people across the Twin Cities area, where he lived his entire life. He was the patriarch of his extended family and the keeper of family knowledge and traditions. A celebrated coach, teacher, and mentor at Minneapolis North and Central high schools, he was a steady advocate for education and for learning the true history of African Americans. His achievements in the world of sports were many: he was the first Black football coach inducted into the Minnesota Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame (August 2021), a two-time Conference Coach of the Year while at Central High, a member of the Augsburg College Athletic Hall of Fame (inducted 1979), and a winner of multiple varsity letters in football, basketball and track while in high school and college, as well as many other honors. His first teaching job was in 1960 at the Hennepin County Home School. He joined the Minneapolis Vocational High School coaching staff in 1966, and in 1972 became head football coach at Central High School, where he was also hired to teach American history. When Central closed in 1982, he went to North Community High School as head football coach and history teacher. He coached women’s basketball at Central and served as North’s Athletic Director from 1988 to 1998. He retired from teaching in 1996. Richard Henry Robinson was born January 26, 1936, in Minneapolis, to Virgil Robinson and Carrie Royster Robinson (later Carrie Wright). The Robinson family lived in South Minneapolis, first in the Seward area, and later in the Central High neighborhood. He graduated from Central High School in 1954 and from Augsburg College in 1959. Richard was preceded in death by his parents and his six Robinson siblings: Clarence, Ira, Eugene, Russell, Kenneth and Wanda Robinson Norwood. He is survived by his wife Martha Harris; his four children: Richie and his children Kasey and Mikaela; Ronel and her children Chelsea and Lauren; Roggie (Jeffrey Johnson) and her son Marques; and Jeffrey (Cassandra) and their children Jassandra, Jaila and Jeffrey II; step-daughter Laurie (Joseph) Dennis and their children Christina and Kerry of Madison, WI; sisters-in-law Corinne Robinson, Marilyn Robinson, and Bonnie Cronin; former wife Elizabeth (Fred) Williams; and many great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Services will be Friday, May 12, at Park Avenue United Methodist Church, 3400 Park Avenue, Minneapolis, with visitation at 11 am and service at noon. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to the United Negro College Fund or the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Richard Henry Robinson

January 26, 1936 - April 26, 2023