Barbara Robinson

Barbara Robinson is Mom to the Robinson boys. She was born and raised in the nearby rural community of Corcoran, where her dad owned a mom-and-pop grocery store. As a child Barbara worked in the store sweeping, stocking, and washing pop bottles outside in the heat. She hated that. The wasps.

Her mother was always busy. She was a teacher and very involved in helping out at the church. She also admired her mother’s ability with languages. She was fluent or familiar with about six languages, including Latin and Greek.

After high school, Barbara continued her education and received her teaching credential from California State University, Fresno. She began her career at an elementary school teaching social studies.

When she met Mike Robinson, both she and Mike had experienced marriages that didn’t work out. Although they were crazy about each other, they both patiently waited on the Catholic annulment process to seriously begin thinking about marriage.

Eventually, they were able to marry. Soon after their marriage, she became pregnant with her first son, Samuel. By this time, Mike was well on his way to becoming a successful businessman and he told her, “You don’t have to work, if you don’t want to.”

She accepted her new role as a stay-at-home mother, but it wasn’t easy. She is not naturally domestic; but, with time, things smoothed out.

When her second son, Luke, was born he had a serious condition; his blood was RH-positive and hers was RH-negative. This causes the mother’s body to produce antibodies that attack fetal blood cells. Luke required three blood transfusions.

Her doctor told her never to get pregnant again.

Being Catholic, artificial birth control was not an option. Six years later, at 40, she became pregnant with Jacob.

Her doctor recommended terminating the pregnancy. If she didn’t, she and Mike could have a child with terrible problems that could consume their lives and finances.

Of course, abortion was not an option.

At that time, there was no treatment for this condition. But they found a doctor in San Francisco willing to take their case. The doctor was excited and said, “We can do this.”

“This” was a blood transfusion in-utero via the umbilical cord.

But it was going to be an expensive procedure.

Barbara was worried because they didn’t have maternity insurance. She was 40 and they had only purchased health insurance. They had saved $5,000 for the baby, but this procedure was going to cost a lot more. Mike told her not to worry, he had saved $80,000 to buy a warehouse and they could use that.

There were other concerns, too.

They had consulted more than one doctor and they weren’t in agreement. Some said the in-utero procedure could work, others that it couldn’t.

About that time, her sister said to her, “Barbara, where’s your God now?”

Now her sister did believe in God, but Barbara thinks her comment, at that time, was a “voice” she needed to hear.

Barbara responded, “You know what, I'm not going to jump ship now.”

She also remembered hearing, “Fear nothing. Trust me.”

Then she saw doctors on one side of a fence and she saw Jesus on the other side, and she heard, “All I have is your word.” She added, “I heard it deep within me.”

Finally, she thought, “Okay, I'm going to trust you.”

When the day came, there were 30 people in the operating room. The doctor went through the umbilical cord and gave tiny Jacob three blood transfusions. He had been in the womb 24 weeks and was born four weeks later.

The operation was a success!

The bill was $105,000.

As it turned out, their health insurance agent went to bat for them with their provider. The company determined this was a catastrophic health situation and covered $100,000. Mike and Barbara paid $5,000.

Today, the RH blood type condition is treated with RhoGAM injections around 28 weeks gestation, which resolves the issue in most all cases.

Barbara said of Jacob, “Although all my boys are good and talented, I think Jacob is one of the smartest.”

While raising her boys, Barbara was active in the community alongside Mike. They started a booster club for the high school, volunteered for St. Rose-McCarthy Catholic School, developed a literacy project, and more.

Also, she worked paying bills for one of the former family businesses, Adventure Park in Visalia. When her son Luke sold the park, she went home and admitted she “watched way too much YouTube.”

Thus she decided to return to a favorite cause, early literacy. Today, she volunteers two days a week at St. Rose-McCarthy helping a group of students who need some “extra help” with reading. She also helps with various projects ongoing at the school.

One other tidbit of Robinson lore is the assistance they give to the homeless. Growing up, the kids used to take meals to a homeless man who lived behind their home. Barbara still tries to help them individually when she can. “One has done well,” she said.

Regarding the loss of Mike in 2019 and the effect on the family businesses, she said, “My boys, they have all been really tender towards me and, after Mike died, they all just kind of swooped in and took care of all the family businesses. It was a blessing.”

She added, “My children and grandchildren fill the void since Mike left.”

Indeed, today, she’s busy with 16 grandchildren (one being a niece who wants to be a Robinson). Many of her family have even settled near her home, so Barbara is blessed with a real neighborhood.