Sandra K. Robinson

Mrs. Sandra (Sandi) Kirwan Robinson, 79, of Lorton, Virginia, passed peacefully in her sleep on 28 March 2024 surrounded by family.

Mrs. Robinson was born on 20 November 1944, in the District of Columbia, the daughter of the late Bertram Earl Kirwan and Doris Grace Pearson. Sandi grew up in Falls Church, Virginia, and graduated from Falls Church High School in 1962. Sandi’s calling from an early age was becoming a registered nurse so she could provide comfort and care to the ill, disabled, and dying. She graduated in 1965 from the Alexandria Hospital School of Nursing with her best friend, the late Brenda Bare. The two shared a beautiful friendship, and we are sure they are now together again as they wished.

Sandi worked as a head nurse at the old Alexandria Hospital on Duke Street and later at the new Inova Alexandria Hospital on Seminary Road. She worked 42 years as a nurse, with the last 16 years in same-day surgery where she developed a wonderful friendship with Donna Reese. The two enjoyed singing oldies but goodies from the 50’s and 60’s. During her distinguished career as a nurse, Sandi was recognized by the doctors with a Nurse of the Year award.

Sandi met the love of her life, Stephen B. Robinson, on a blind date in 1968. The couple was excited to start their new lives together, and the two were married on 25 September 1971. Sandi and Steve started a family of their own in 1974 with the birth of daughter Kristen Shae Robinson. The happy couple was blessed again with the birth of another daughter Megan Lea Robinson in 1977. A happy and lasting memory for the family of four was a 40-day trip across the United States in 1989. The family explored a dozen national parks, rode horses at Wild Bill Cody’s Resort Ranch in Wyoming, rafted on the Colorado River, experienced an earthquake in the San Francisco Bay area, and provided comfort to a Finnish traveler who had his foot run over by a bus at the rest area by the Golden Gate bridge.

Sandi enjoyed sitting on the stoop and drinking coffee with Kathy Brosnan and Diane Rosenblum after their girls were off to school. She served as PTA president at Canterbury Elementary school, worked several years as a nurse at a local elementary school, and was an original booster member for the Woodson High School chorus. Sandi always found time to help out in the girls’ classrooms and afterschool activities and chaperoning numerous high school chorus trips and helping each year with the chorus’ Dessert on Broadway production.

Sandi also enjoyed those runs with Marti Jackson to Krispy Kreme and Dairy Queen and loved her Subway turkey sandwich. Sandi treasured and felt blessed for the many wonderful and caring friends that the couple made among the residents of the Spring Hill community where they lived for over 17 years. The family appreciated the companionship and support Barbara Adesso, Linda Beuhring, Libby Burge, Charlee Charlebois, Pat Davidson, Judy Dyer, Lois Luke, Linda Mitchell, Alice Morris, Pat Sidenstick, and Pat Sommer provided Sandi in the final years of her battle with Parkinson. Special thanks go out to home health nurse and dear family friend Dean Gawum who cared for Sandi for more than a decade after her numerous hospitalizations. The family would like to thank Dr. Simon Fishman and former infusion nurses Lori Ferguson and Mary DePristo for the care, compassion, and commitment they provided Sandi as she bravely battled Myasthenia Gravis and Parkinson.

She is survived by her husband, Stephen B. Robinson of Lorton, Virginia; daughter Kristen Gjormand and husband Ryan (David) Gjormand of Vienna; daughter Megan Lea Robinson of Laurel, Maryland; granddaughters Iris Olivia Davis Robinson of Laurel, Maryland, and Carlee Mae Gjormand of Vienna, Virginia; cousins Steve Kirwan and wife Kathy Lewis Kirwan of Morehead City, North Carolina, Janet Kirwan of Morehead City, North Carolina, and Susan Burleigh of Blacksburg, Virginia.

There will be a viewing Thursday April 4 from 5 to 7pm at Money & King Funeral Home. The address is 171 Maple Avenue West, Vienna, Virginia. Funeral services will be held at 10 am Friday April 5 at the Money & King Funeral Home with interment at Mount Comfort Cemetery 6600 South Kings Highway, Alexandria Virginia.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to Parkinson Foundation of the National Capital Area (PFNCA) in Olney, Maryland.