Faith Robinson, 19, Passed After Battle with Leukemia, Remembered for Her Kindness and Smile

Faith Elizabeth Robinson, age 19, of Oswego, passed away at 11:58 p.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, March 28, 2013 from complications related to her treatment for Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.

Faith was born on May 5, 1993, in Little Rock, Arkansas, the daughter of Crystal Ann (Brown) and Brian Richard Robinson.  She was baptized at Zion Chapel United Methodist Church and grew up in Stuttgart, Arkansas until May of 1998 when her family moved to Oswego.  

She attended and was confirmed into membership at Church of the Good Shepherd in Oswego.  She attended East View Elementary, Traughber Junior High and Oswego High School where she was a four year cheerleader for football and basketball and participated in many activities including band, tennis and badminton and was a member of the National Honor Society and the National Technical Honor Society. 

READ: Friends and Family Come Together to Remember Faith Robinson on Social Media

In 2009, she was recognized by the Village of Oswego as an “Extraordinary Oswegoan”.  Faith was a member of the graduating class of 2011 and was always proud to represent Oswego High School where she epitomized the true spirit of a Panther and for eternity will be “proud to be a Panther”.   

During high school, she was employed at the Dari-Hut of Oswego for several summers.  She immensely enjoyed her “Make a Wish” trip to Hawaii with her family in June of 2011 and was looking forward to joining her brother Connor this coming summer for his wish trip.  Faith always lived life to the fullest and enjoyed spending time with family and friends and cheering on her three brothers at their various sporting endeavors where she could be their harshest critic but was also their biggest fan.  She was “artsy” and enjoyed arts and crafts, cooking and cake decorating classes.  She was a perfectionist in all she did, especially her handwriting. 

Following her graduation from high school, she attended Loyola University in Chicago where she was studying to become a pediatric oncology nurse.  She immediately became involved in student life at Loyola and served on the Nursing Student Council.  Unfortunately, less than two months after she started school, it was discovered that she had relapsed and she has spent the last 17 months undergoing intensive chemotherapy treatment and enduring countless procedures and hospital stays.

Although this was not the path she would have chosen, Faith never complained or questioned “why” and never hesitated to share her and her family’s story when asked.   She “gave back” many times and became a skilled public speaker, speaking with a grace and courage far beyond her years, whether she was talking to elementary school students shaving their heads to raise money for pediatric cancer research, her peers in Advanced Health class, serving as the keynote speaker at the 2011 St. Baldrick’s event at the Bolingbrook Country Club where over 2,000 people listened intently while she spoke or standing in front of hundreds of golfers at the 2013 CDH Foundation Golf Outing at Medinah Country Club where she spoke of the importance of providing funding for additional Child Life Specialists to help patients such as herself. 

She was one of the oldest patients at the clinic where she was adored by the younger patients.  She spent many moments playing games, doing crafts and reassuring other patients, especially those newly diagnosed, that “hair is vastly overrated” and that they, too, could be a survivor. She was truly the “princess” of the clinic and of the entire hospital where she made a lasting impact on all she met for her courage and grace despite circumstances beyond her control.  Although her life was short in years, Faith has touched many lives and her memory and beautiful smile will live on forever in all those that she met.

She leaves to cherish her memory, her mother and best friend, Crystal, her three brothers, William Brown, Brice Robert and Connor Hill, all of Oswego and her grandparents, Robert H. and Roberta M. Brown and J. William and Marjorie A. Robinson, all of Decatur.  In addition, she is survived by her uncles and aunts, Mark H. Brown and Heni Takacs Brown and Steven W. Robinson, all of St. Louis, Jeffrey M. and Amy L. Brown, Andrea L. Robinson and Rodney and Gretchen Adams, all of Blue Mound as well as her cousins, Henry Taylor Brown, Christian Takacs Brown and Georgia Carin Brown, all of St. Louis, Missouri, Marshall Robert Brown and Walker Mitchell Brown, of Blue Mound, Amber Nicole Porter of Clinton, Aaron Jacob Rench of Memphis, Tennessee, Shelby Nicholle Adams and Noah Rodney Adams of Blue Mound.  Faith also leaves behind a host of extended family and friends as well as an entire community who never gave up hope and always “kept the Faith”.   Faith was preceded in death by her father, Brian in 2008.

Visitation will be held from 3:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, 2013, at the Dieterle Memorial Home (www.dieterlememorialhome.com) located at 1120 South Broadway, Montgomery, Illinois.  Funeral services will be held at the Church of the Good Shepherd in downtown Oswego on Friday, April 5th, at 2:00 p.m. where the body will lie in state for one hour prior to the service.  Private internment will take place on Saturday, April 6th at Brown Cemetery and will be followed by a memorial service to celebrate Faith’s life at 2:00 p.m. at Zion Chapel United Methodist Church located near Boody, Illinois.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that those wishing to honor Faith’s memory and indomitable spirit consider memorial donations to either Oswego High School, for the purpose of establishing a scholarship fund in her name, or to the Cadence Health Foundation for the Ronald McDonald House near Cadence Health-CDH.   “Keeping the Faith” scholarship donations should be directed to the attention of Dr. Patti Marcinko, in care of Oswego High School, 4250 Rt. 71, Oswego, Illinois 60543 and donations to the Cadence Health Foundation for the Ronald McDonald House near Cadence Health-CDH Campus may be made through the Cadence Health Foundation website or by calling (630) 933-4483. 

Faith’s family wishes to thank the doctors, nurses and entire staff of the Pediatric Sub-Specialty Clinic at Central DuPage Hospital for their loving care over the past five years.  We are grateful beyond words for the doctors, nurses and staff of the Peds Department and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for the compassionate and loving care Faith received from the entire Central DuPage Hospital staff who have become a part of our family and have traveled with us on this journey, all of whom cared for Faith and loved her as if she was their own.

Her family also wishes to express their sincere appreciation to the players, families and Board of Directors of the Panther Soccer Club, the administration, faculty and staff of Oswego High School as well as the entire Oswego community for their support, encouragement, care and concern and the many acts of love and kindness over the past 5 years but most especially for always “keeping the Faith”.   

Obituary provided by Crystal Robinson.