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From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 9, 1999
George R. Robinson, whose successful brand of Magic Mix grass seed was tailored to St. Louis' steamy summers, died Saturday (Aug. 7, 1999) of cancer at his home in Olivette. He was 55.
Mr. Robinson started the G.R. Robinson Seed Co. on Trenton Industrial Drive near his home in 1994. He had had a varied career here in advertising and management, with the May Department Stores Co. and operating his own corporate headhunting agency.
Mr. Robinson grew up in Kirkwood, where he developed a passion for ga rdening from his father, Spencer Robinson, a stockbroker and investment banker.
About a dozen years ago, Mr. Robinson's brother Herk, the general manager of the Kansas City Royals baseball team, took him to task for his parched lawn. Herk Robinson referred his brother to his groundskeeper, George Toma.
They hit on a mix of six hardy, disease- and drought-resistant seeds designed for the so-called transition zone represented by St. Louis' mix of hot, humid summers and cold winters. The result, with the help of International Seeds of Halsey, Ore., was George's Magic Mix, named for both men.
A memorial service for Mr. Robinson will be held Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Village Lutheran Church, 9237 Clayton Road, Ladue. Burial in Oak Grove Cemetery will be private. Survivors, in addition to his brother, include his wife, Gayle Robinson; a daughter, Kathrine Robinson; and his mother, Lucile Robinson of Webster Groves.
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Charlie Homeyer
I have a fond, if somewhat hazy, memory of George at the baptism of his infant daughter, I believe, which I performed on Christmas Eve in the mid-70's at Grace Episcopal Church in Kirkwood.
Charlie Homeyer
Joe Griesedieck
George and I met on our first day at CDS, in Class 7, at the old campus on Brown Road. On that first day, we all had to go through Mr. Mac's roll call, with all three classes in the same room (8,7 and 6). After Mr. Mac finished butchering my name, with the fully anticipated snickers around the room, George came over after and said, "My mom's taking a couple of us out for a hamburger after school. Why don't you join us?" That started a long and lasting 45 year friendship that took George and I through many adventures together, through our high school and college years and beyond, quite a number of them in concert with our other CDS classmates, until his untimely death in 1999.
One of my favorite memories of George from our CDS days was our senior high school prom, when George and I donned "Temptations" dinner jackets and kicked off the evening with a few drinks in my basement on Barnes Road....Mike Healer's second home on many occasions...then went off with our dates to the CDS gym. During a rather rousing polka number, which I approached with unbridled enthusiasm and a bit of over abundance, I ended up tripping over the short white picket fence at one end of the dance floor that separated the faculty chaperones and thier wives, and landed in Mr. Weyermeyer's (Sr.) wife's lap. George stepped in to try to make amends, but not being in any better shape than I was in, that didn't go too well. The following Monday, the Frog called me into his office to tell me that if I wanted to graduate with my class, I might seriously consider staying at home for the remaining few days of school. He also suggested that I consider finding new friends. I'm happy to say that I took him up on neither suggestion.
There are too many stories to tell about George, but all are equally good on which to reflect back. I also know that many of George's CDS classmates have similar stories that could fill a room with laughter.
George was my best man at my first wedding. Throughout the years he was my confidant during good times and not so good times. Even when I knew he wouldn't have the answer, I also knew that I could count on his trust and friendship.
As the years passed, we all wondered if and when George would settle down. We always wondered if he would find love himself, and then there was Penny, followed by his beautiful daugher, Katie. And indeed he did settle down and became just as boring as all the rest of us (well maybe most of us...right Jigger?).
George inherited his father Spence's love of gardening, and particularly his passion for nurturing beautiful lawns. When we were younger, he would joke about the amount of time Spence spent working on his lawn at their home on the hill in Kirkwood. But underneath the adolescent cynicism, you could tell that there was equal pride and admiration. Years later, when George launched "George's Magic Mix", I had never seen him prouder. I used to kid him that he spent more time caring for his lawn than he did his wife and daughter. That lawn was akin to the sacred chalice. On one of my trips back to St. Louis, it was all I could do not to park my rental car in the middle of the lawn and then burn rubber on my way out. To this day, I wish I had done it.
I sitll miss George greatly. Even after nearly a dedcade and a half since he left us all, it just doesn't seem natural to be coming back to a CDS class reunion without him there. The good times and unforgettable episodes that characterized George's relationships with so many of us will always live on. May we may all be remembered with such love, humor and and good friendship.
I hope that when we gather on Saturday night and take time to remember those classmates who have left us too soon, we'll remember what a great friend George was to so many of us and how enriched our lives are for his having been a part of them.
John Primm
Thank you Joe for your wonderful comments about George. I too consider myself blessed for his being in my life. I knew him Pre CDS and post CDS. Even though he did not finish at CDS he loved the school more than most of us who graduated. He used to call soliciting donations and I asked him why after throwing him out and he set me straight in that was not the school's fault and he was proud to be associated with the school. More power to him and typical. In fact he never told his business partner that he even went to Kirkwood. We were also in the army together, I had helped him bribe his way into the reserves, the good news! The Bad News is that it was the SPECIAL FORCES RESERVES! I miss him and think of him often, just a great guy and friend!Steve Lord
John, Im noticing as I read these tributes on this site that you write good heart felt tributes. George came to visit John when I was at Tulane and SMU, , and in New Orleans George came up from his Trinity College in San Antonio. I took them both to an illegal casino, New Orleans being the most corrupt town in the country. . George was betting red and black on the roulette wheel so the odds were fifty fifty, and lost about 8 in a row. He figured that the law of averages was in his favor and so confidently he kept putting ever more sizable bets on red. Same results time after time. We finally concluded the casiino had a way of tweaking the wheel and left but George was then penniless.
In Dallas during Oklahoma Texas football weekend, John, George and I were in a rest room where a mirror got broken, I dont remember any of us doing it but when the police got there they grabbed the 3 of us and herded us into a paddy wagon where we joined a raving drunk. . I guess it was a case of rounding up the usual suspects. But luckily we were released , I guess for lack of evidence. Whew! Remember John?
I remember George as being very gregarious , funny and told a great story. it was he who would organize those CDS meet ups at Schneithorst on December 26, and he came the farthest, from San Antonio, to the big meet up in New York City for Thanksgiving as Freshmen in college.
Steve Lord