‘Tis a fearful thing
To love
What death can touch.
To love, to hope, to dream,
And oh, to lose.
A thing for fools, this,
Love,
But a holy thing,
To love what death can touch.
For your life has lived in me;
Your laugh once lifted me;
Your word was a gift to me.
To remember this brings painful joy.
‘Tis a human thing, love,
A holy thing,
To love
What death can touch.
– Judah Halevi or Emanuel of Rome - 12th Century
When I am gone, release me. Let me go.
I have so many things to see and do.
You mustn't tie yourself to me with tears,
Be happy that we had so many beautiful years.
I gave to you my love. You can only guess
How much you gave to me in happiness.
I thank you for the love you each have shown,
But now it's time I traveled on alone.
So grieve a while for me, if grieve you must,
Then let your grief be comforted by trust.
It's only for a while that we must part,
So bless the memories within your heart.
I won't be far away, for life goes on.
So if you need me, call and I will come.
Though you can't see or touch me, I'll be near.
And if you listen with your heart, You'll hear
All my love around you soft and clear.
And then, when you must come this way alone,
I'll greet you with a smile and say welcome home.
– Unknown
If you wish to make a donation, gifts can be made in memory of Robin Jones to
support Alzheimer’s research in the Department of Neurology at Stanford University.
Please make checks payable to: Stanford University. In the memo line of the check indicate: 'Gift for Dr. Michael Greicius' Alzheimer's research'.
Checks should be mailed to:
Anne Longo
Office of Medical Development
3172 Porter Dr. Suite 210
Palo Alto, CA 94303
We will remember Robin for his intelligence, kindness, generosity, quick wit, easy-going spirit, understated ego, and contagious dancing style. And how we were charmed by his British accent!
Robin was born during WWII near Newcastle on Tyne, in the far northeast of England. His father was serving in the British Army in Germany, and his older brother had been sent west to go to school, away from possible danger. Before his dad shipped off to Germany, Robin’s mother Betty became pregnant. They picked out a name that could work for a boy or girl. Thus Robin Leslie Jones was born on May 19, 1940. His mother always called him Rob. Betty raised him until the war ended. Robin strongly remembered not meeting his father or brother until he was five years old.
After the war Robin spent two summers in northern Germany with his parents while his dad was posted there. He was age 7 the first time (Hannover) and age 11 the second time (Hamburg). He picked up the German language quickly and regretted not being able to keep it up.
Robin grew up in a family of athletes. All 4 played tennis. Robin’s only sibling, Ian, was 6 years older. Ian was a gifted short-distance runner. Robin played tennis, soccer (football to the Brits), threw the javelin, bowled cricket, and ran track and field. A beloved hobby was making gliders; they got bigger and better the older he got. Once one flew so far as to sail out of sight and land on a neighboring town’s police station rooftop!
Robin loved classical music. As a young boy he sang soprano in a choir until his voice changed. He took piano lessons from age 8 to 18 and was very serious and accomplished. Years later, when he married Anne, he took lessons again for a while; Nick would go to sleep to the sound of Robin playing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. In retirement Robin sang with the Vallombrosa Choir and was an enthusiastic audience member whenever Anne performed with the Stanford Symphonic Chorus. He also volunteered at Filoli with his longtime friend Barry.
Growing up, Robin attended a local all-boys school. Older brother Ian was perceived as the athlete, so Robin concentrated on academics. Robin attended Cambridge for his undergraduate degree and his PhD in Metallurgy - what would today be called Materials Science. As an undergrad, he was required to wear a gown into town - so yes - he would ride his bike very Harry Potter-like, gown worn over his shirt and tie, flapping in the breeze. He helped put himself through school by making high fidelity stereo speakers for fellow students. He fondly remembered two particular summer vacations – one on Cyprus where his married brother was stationed; and one road trip with friends across Europe, down through Germany, touching Italy as far as Pisa, then on to Yugoslavia. He told of car breakdowns and corn stolen from fields by these ‘starving’ students. While at Cambridge he and some friends bought a used punt for...what else...punting on the river Cam. Popular with the girls he would say ;)
Robin loved maps. When he was 19, he spent a summer in Wales with Outward Bound where the ‘final’ was surviving on his own for a few days with only a map. Robin loved to follow and talk about the weather. He probably would have enjoyed being a meteorologist, although he may have had difficulty accepting the high error rate in weather forecasting! He was undeniably a (closet) perfectionist, and, by the way, an introvert.
In September 1965 Robin married Diane (an RN) and together they came to Philadelphia in January 1966 - sight unseen. His Cambridge advisor called it the BTA degree - Been To America degree. He worked at what was then The Franklin Institute. Their only child, Adrian, was born in Philadelphia April 16, 1971.
Robin, Diane and Adrian moved to California for Robin to take a job at SRI in 1972. Robin’s area of expertise was in embrittlement of alloys used in nuclear reactors and geothermal brines. With his bright mind and strong interpersonal skills, he quickly attracted new clients, initiated joint research efforts with other SRI labs and divisions, doubled the metallurgy staff, and became department director. While at SRI, he was recruited to serve on the National Materials Advisory Board.
Robin couldn’t believe the good weather in the bay area. During this time he rode his bike to work, played softball, badminton, and backpacked in the Sierras with Barry Syrett and Mike Torgersen. Robin’s mother came to visit them in California after Robin’s father passed away, and she is credited for getting young Adrian to first walk.
In 1978 Robin joined Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and retired from EPRI 29 years later, having risen to the top technical position - Senior V.P. for Science and Technology. Many of these years were devoted to extending the lifespan of nuclear power plants throughout the world through water chemistry optimization and prevention of corrosion cracking. He was instrumental in helping guide the organization and its members through deregulation in the early 1990s, and he was a selfless team player contributing to several internal reorganizations. He was responsible for many valuable hires, and was known for his good people management and mentorship skills. Ultimately he was in charge of all things technical, all types of power generation and transmission, and over 350 people. Robin was an elegant, persuasive public speaker and a great consensus builder, which led to achieving almost 100% voluntary membership of U.S. public utilities in EPRI’s collaborative research programs; an accomplishment for which he was understandably very proud.
During his time at EPRI Robin traveled a lot, clocking over 1 million miles with United alone. There were many trips to Washington DC for meetings with the NRC. Since France and Japan have big nuclear power programs, he traveled there many times, but also went to conferences and meetings in South Africa, Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, and Finland… He was a stoic traveler - one time he had breakfast in South Africa, a lunch meeting in Paris, and slept that night in England. One fall, he traveled nine weeks in a row, arriving at SFO from Korea the morning of Thanksgiving and somehow staying awake to enjoy turkey and pie, having embraced our very unique American holiday.
Robin and Anne met on a running track. Robin was an excellent running coach and their relationship flourished despite Robin’s initial pick-up line which was ‘you could run a lot faster if you picked your knees up higher and swung your arms more.’
When Anne met Robin, he was captain of the EPRI corporate running team and was indeed a good coach. For many years, a group of men and women - mostly working at EPRI - trained together at distances from 220 meters to 10,000 meters. There were many competitions throughout the year, with regional Corporate Cup finals in June, and nationals in July. Strong bonds were formed among the many team members.
Anne and Robin bought their house on Windsor Drive in Menlo Park in 1987, when Nick was 7 and Adrian 15. Marriage followed two years later and then a honeymoon in England. They stayed with Robin’s mom as a home base, and Robin toured Anne around many of his childhood historical sites. He proudly showed off Cambridge, but for some reason wouldn’t deign to show rival Oxford to her ;)
As Adrian and Nick grew up, Robin was involved in both of their scouting activities. He also enjoyed being an AYSO soccer referee. Robin helped Adrian buy his first car – a classic Mustang. When installing a sound system in it, he found $500 in cash buried in the trunk; it paid for a new transmission! Robin ‘helped’ Nick make his model California mission in fourth grade, and Nick’s winning pinewood derby car in scouts. Nick wanted to get a golden retriever and name him Willie; Anne was against getting a dog. Nick kept working away at them, and when he finally won Robin over, Anne capitulated. Willie was a rescue dog and joined the household on Nick’s 13th birthday.
Robin loved to dance, especially to the Rolling Stones, and had a very unique style best described as ‘dance like no one is watching.’ He grinned from ear to ear and it was contagious.
Anne was always very impressed with Robin’s ability to fix things, glue things, re-wire things, modify things, figure things out, understand user manuals, assemble things, program things, etc. After the 1989 earthquake, Robin went through the entire house attaching cabinets to studs, putting lips on shelves, ‘baby-proofing’ cabinet doors, and so on. Then he did the same to Anne’s parents’ house!
For years Robin and Anne enjoyed running together locally and while on travel. In fact, in honor of meeting while running, they ran a 5k race the day of their wedding - the Paly-Gunn Fun Run. Robin ran with Nick on his first race - Willy’s in Los Altos - when Nick was about 5. When Anne and Robin could no longer run, they cycled. In 2008 they enjoyed a glorious 6-day bicycling vacation through the stunning Canadian Rockies.
Robin loved to read non-fiction, science, science fiction, action, suspense, mystery, and of course - James Bond. For over 10 years he was in a men’s book group. Magazines he liked to read were: Sports Illustrated, Time, Discover, and Astronomy. He loved to follow American football (go Niners!), Track and Field, Tour de France, the Olympics, and naturally, Wimbledon.
Robin became a U.S. citizen in 2003. His friend Frank Austin accompanied him to the large naturalization ceremony at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco. Robin had only voted once in England before moving to the States; after 2003 he was proud to be able to finally vote again.
Adrian and Angelique were married in 2003 in Sedona, Arizona. They live in San Francisco with their dog Zoe and enjoy their impressive careers and adventurous travel. In 2010, Robin and Anne joined them in New Zealand, fulfilling a life long dream of Robin’s. The year before, Adrian invited his dad on a father-son trip to Scotland where they explored their Scottish roots of clan McLeod of Skye. And did a little scotch whiskey tasting too!
Nick married high school sweetheart Emily in 2004. Nick is in P.R. at Apple and Emily works on labor and employment law for a firm in San Francisco; they live in San Mateo. To the family’s great joy they have two boys, Dean and Owen; Robin chose to be called Granddad.
Robin was quick to embrace Anne’s multi-generational family tradition of spending a week together every summer at Lake Tahoe. Activities enjoyed included hiking, running, bicycling, sitting on the beach, reading, boating, barbecuing salmon, and star gazing. Oh - and enjoying S’mores - but Robin preferred the chocolate alone…
