Robin - Worthington

Robin Worthington, retired Mercury News journalist and watercolor painter, died of Parkinson’s disease at the age of 92 in her Fremont home on Jan. 17. She was married to John Worthington for nearly 70 years and raised five children.

Robin was known for her love of family, her insightful and often funny writing, her many lifelong friendships, her advocacy for women, her support for Fremont arts and civic projects, and her passion for reading and travel. She had an eye for beauty and a drive to express herself artistically, through drawing and painting, arranging flowers from her garden, or finding the perfect jacket to go with that blouse.

Robin was born Oct. 22, 1932, in Renton, Wa. She was the only child of Cora Jean and Robert Andrew Chittenden, who divorced when Robin was five. She grew up on her grandparents’ filbert and cherry ranch in Kent, Wa., and in Olympia and Seattle, supported by her mother’s work as a home economics teacher. Robin graduated from Franklin High School in Seattle, and then the University of Washington, where she joined the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and earned a degree in journalism in 1953. She was proud of her Norwegian heritage and her Pacific Northwest roots.

After college, Robin moved to San Francisco with a friend, where she worked at a small ad agency. She soon met John Worthington, who was also from Seattle and was then a chemistry grad student at UC Berkeley. They were married in Seattle in 1955 and lived briefly in Richland, Wa., before moving to Fremont, Ca., in 1959 with their baby daughter Lisa. By 1962, they had four more children, all born in Fremont: Stephen, Jane, Molly, and Nancy.

Her husband was an engineer for General Electric, and Robin managed their tribe at home. There was chaos and laughter at the dinner table; there were “sounds I do not like to hear!” The life of a mother was hers, and it inspired her to write.

Robin established a daily time when she was not to be disturbed and set up her typewriter on a table behind a bookcase. From that spot she captured her thoughts on family life, Catholic spirituality, and other topics, becoming a successful freelance writer. She published hundreds of articles and two small books, “Enjoying Your Preschooler” and “Beyond the Kitchen Sink.” She also taught writing for publication in Hayward, Livermore, and Fremont adult schools.

In 1978, she joined the Fremont Argus newspaper as a feature writer and became the lifestyle section editor. She moved to the Fremont bureau of the San Jose Mercury in 1985, where she wrote a weekly people column as well as features and news, and was prized for her wide network of contacts and knowledge of local history. She wrote with compassion, advocacy, and especially humor. In 1989 she was part of the team that covered the Loma Prieta earthquake, for which they jointly received a Pulitzer prize. But perhaps she engaged her readers most with such riches as the cultural history of the diaper pail, or her life as a Secret Frump, devoted to her Dearfoam scuffs.

After Robin retired in 1994, she and John went on several European tours, which she documented in journals and sketchbooks. She had the luxury of more reading time, and loved discussions in her two American Association of University Women book groups.

Retirement enabled her to focus on what she’d always wanted to be: an artist. She took local watercolor workshops, and loved painting with her friends, including fellow members of the Roving Artists, who showed and sold their work every year and a half at the Mission Coffee cafe. Her paintings were chosen for juried shows at the Olive Hyde Art Gallery, as well as for a collection at Washington Hospital. Many friends also cherish Robin’s watercolors of flowers and local landscapes.

Robin is survived by her husband John and her children Lisa Worthington (San Francisco), Stephen Worthington (Santa Barbara), Jane Campbell (Malvern, Penn.), Molly Worthington (Fremont), and Nancy Worthington (Hamden, Conn.).

Her memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Feb. 24, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 43148 Mission Blvd., Fremont.

Donations in Robin Worthington’s memory may be made to Abode, Olive Hyde Art Gallery, the Parkinson’s Foundation, and Women for Women International.

Photo: San Jose Mercury