Louella M. Robinson's Obituary
Louella Huff Robinson was a loving daughter, a devoted mother and a generous friend. Born in Ledbetter, Texas on March 23, 1935, Louella spent her early years at the family farms of the Simpson and Huff clans in the Giddings, Texas area. After joining her parents Julius Caesar (“Jack”) Huff and Emma Huff in California, she graduated from San Diego High School in 1951. During her long marriage to Edwin Robinson, she raised five children as a full-time homemaker and established a warm and welcoming destination for family and friends at their home in Emerald Hills. Louella loved entertaining and was an excellent cook across a wide range of cuisines. Her children, relatives and friends all had their favorite dishes.Early on, Louella demonstrated that she wanted to be more than “just” a housewife and whenever possible she worked to contribute to her household. In the mid-sixties, she applied and accepted a position at Doctors Hospital in the Dietary Department. There she was encouraged by her supervisors to take management classes, which she did at Grossmont College. Eventually she rose through the ranks to become Manager of the department, where she remained until 1976. Louella joined the South Bay Union Elementary School District in 1977 as the purchasing supervisor. While there, Louella took her love of attending auctions and applied her creative thinking to initiate the first process in ANY school district of using the technique of auctions to sell off used district furniture, including school buses! This sell-off process quickly gained fame and facilitated purchasers from across the border to access school desks, buses, copiers and other items desperately needed in Tijuana. These auctions were a smash hit that endured for many years allowing the district the ability to recoup funds to reinvest into purchasing new items for the district. Obviously with this type of ingenuity, Louella received a promotion to the senior management role of Director of Purchasing and Warehousing for the entire district. She held this position until her retirement in 1997.While working full-time and still raising a family, Louella was introduced to and developed her passion for antiques. Never being a person to sit still, she took this hobby and her entrepreneur tendencies to launch an antique business to fill her spare time! Initially, she operated booths in various store locations including the original downtown location of 7th Heaven Antiques prior to the changes brought on to build the ball park. She became very prominent in the San Diego antique community, recognized for her expertise and good eye. Louella combed estate sales, auctions, thrift stores and yard sales in search of the finest furniture, clocks, rugs, china, crystal, silverware, dolls, books and unique treasures. She generously surprised family and friends with the thoughtful presentation of items that she had hand-picked just for them.Louella’s energy and zest for life was boundless. From her youth at Mt. Zion Baptist Church to her later years at Bayview Baptist Church, Louella continually praised God for the rich blessings of her life. Her faith supplied her with the strength to bear the losses of her beloved parents as well as of her son Stephen. Louella enjoyed traveling around the country and to Europe, especially with her daughter Angy and her cousin Gwen. Her excursions included trips to Hawaii, Las Vegas and Palm Springs and cruises to the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and Mexico. Louella took great delight in being “Grandma”. She regularly visited her grandchildren in Northern California and often shared humorous ante dotes about them. Louella continued with antique collection and loved hosting and attending family gatherings until her health began to fail.Louella’s children Edwin, Angela, Michael and Gary have countless cherished memories of their Mom’s loving and exuberant life. Their deep sorrow is shared by Louella’s grandchildren Edwin Curtis Robinson, III, Cassandra Spencer Sawyer, Carissa Spencer, Ebonee Buchanan and Stephen (Buddy) Robinson, Jr. and great-grandchildren Diego, Savannah, Jaxon and Kalli. Louella will be greatly missed by a host of cousins and friends whose lives she touched with her affection and kindheartedness.
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