Annie Mae Robinson

Born and raised in McComb, Mississippi on April 28, 1924, Annie Mae Webb Robinson was raised primarily by her father, Julius Webb and three older brothers, Hollis, Robert, and John. Her mother, Mary Jane Webb died when Annie was three years old. Her father worked as a cook at the Pacific Southern Rail and after work he frequented the barbershop.

She met her husband, Lionel Charles Robinson (LC) when she was seventeen years old, while she was engaged to another man who was drafted into the army. LC was aware of it, but with his charming ways, he was able to convince her to marry him. A marriage that lasted over fifty-one years.

Together, they had Vernon Donald Robinson (7/29/43-9/20/03), Beverly Ann Deadmon (4/24/45-11/12/07) and the youngest, Gary Robinson, the only surviving child of their union. Although she loved going to nightclubs with LC, she doted on her children and drove them cross country. She and LC would "paint the town red" on the weekends, hitting all the clubs in LA, SF and Oakland. Eliah's Mile High Club, Esther's Orbit Room on 7th St., Fillmore Street in SF, just to name a few.

Gary recalls being awakened at two o'clock in the morning on the day of the Rose Bowl parade every year, so they could get a good viewing spot. He was not too excited about it, but Annie was adamant about having her children see the spectacular parade.

Annie's first job was at the Southern California Fish Co. in San Pedro, Ca. She worked there for two years as a fish packer. After that, she tried working as a real estate agent, but that lasted only two weeks, because her broker only wanted her to sell properties in the areas where minorities lived. She became a nursing assistant at UCLA Harbor Hospital and retired after working over thirty years, despite her supervisor writing her up for being late to work every day.

She lived a full life! Gary took her on annual trips to the Monterey Jazz/Blues Festival, Russian River Festival, Fillmore Jazz Festival, Blues Festival in the Presidio, hot August nights in Reno and regular trips to the nearby Indian Casinos with her friends at the Brookfield Senior Citizen Group in East Oakland. She traveled parts of Europe with Donald when he was stationed in Germany and when she visited London with Gary, she was not a fan of the public train, because she did not like to walk. Before her stroke two years ago, she would read the daily newspaper from front to back and would discuss politics and the current issues she read about each day.

Her daughter-in-law, Noni, convinced her to join her in the Women's March in 2018. She walked at least three miles with her walker and was admired by groups of attendees, as she was the oldest participant in the march. She used to work at polling centers when she lived in San Pedro and was concerned with the direction our country was headed if the wrong person was elected.

Annie was an active member of the Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco when she moved to Oakland with her son in 2008. She enjoyed the choir and made friends with everyone, whether they were seeking shelter or living in Pacific Heights. She enjoyed attending LGBTQIA+ events and fashion shows.

Annie is survived by her child Gary (Noni) Robinson, her grandchildren Renelle Lesure, Rochelle Lesure, Erik Robinson, Lionel Robinson, Moya Robinson, Crystal Robinson Sigloch, Frederick Sanders, daughter-in-law Gloria Bailey Robinson, great-grandchildren Danielle Lesure-Sopheak, Dominique Lesure, Jazzmine Deadmon, Victoria Sigloch, Nicholas Sigloch, and numerous great great-grandchildren.

As we celebrate her life today, we want everyone to love each other, forgive each other and keep on living! She lived by these words.