Robin O’Connor was truly an angel who refused to be sidelined by her long battle with breast cancer. She led an active life while serving others through her volunteer activities. She was a wife and partner to her husband Pat, a sister and a best friend to many. Robin was truly an angel who saw everyone as a person first and brought hope, love and financial support wherever she saw the need. Robin was active in several environmental organizations and enjoyed interacting with visitors to Morro Bay while volunteering with the State Parks Sea Life Stewards group.
She was also a singer in several choirs and performed even as she battled the metastatic breast cancer that ultimately took her from us. Her last choir was the Central Coast Threshold Singers who sing at the bedside of those who are very ill.
A gifted artist, Robin worked in different media including watercolor and oil painting and most recently, glass fusion under her mentor, local Central Coast artist Larry LeBrane.
Born in Ontario, Canada, Robin worked in Toronto before moving to California. She retired to the Central Coast with her husband at the beginning of 2020 after 25 years in Orange County.
Robin attended graduate school at Cal State Long Beach before starting her tenure as a college professor. Robin was a specialist in adapted kinesiology at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. A bright light and fearsome advocate, she worked every day with grit, grace and love to support her students. Robin rose to full professor, was a faculty of the year recipient and was recognized at the Capitol by the California Legislative Assembly for her mentorship and support of students with disabilities. She was awarded the “Dr. John W. Rice Diversity and Equity Award” by the Board of Governors for California Community Colleges in recognition of her commitment to the community, her students and student assistants.
Robin was very active in sports – she qualified and competed in the 100th anniversary Boston Marathon race, the London, Paris and New York marathons and many others. For several years, she was also a serious “roller blader” and skated across Paris in the late 90’s and helped judge skate/dance competitions in Venice Beach. Robin enjoyed sailing with her husband, kayaking, and paddle boarding. For more than 20 years, she paddled with several Dragon Boat teams including two in Southeast Asia when she briefly lived in Hong Kong and taught at the Hong Kong Institute of Education while doing research in China. Robin was excited to be part of the Central Coast SurviveOars Dragon Boat Team – a team that qualified in New Zealand for the upcoming World Club Crew Championships’ dragon boat event scheduled for September in Ravena, Italy.
Robin is survived by her husband, Pat, sister Maureen, brothers Rodney and Richard, mother-in-law Irene and her brothers-in-law and their families.
If you wish to make a donation in Robin’s name, please consider the American Cancer Society.
