Marilyn Henderson Robbins passed away at 7:15 p.m., Tuesday, June 25, 2013 at Sunnyview Nursing Home at the age of 89, 15 days short of her 90th birthday.
Funeral services are scheduled for 1:30, Saturday, June 29, 2013 at the First Christian Church in Trenton.  The body is to be cremated after the services with inurnment at a later date at Resthaven Memorial Gardens in Trenton.  A visitation is scheduled from 7 until 8 Friday evening at the First Christian Church.  Open visitation will begin Thursday afternoon at Whitaker Eads Funeral Home in Trenton.  Memorial donations may be made to either the Marilyn Henderson Robbins 43 Piano Scholarship which was established at Columbia College in Columbia, MO to honor an outstanding piano student each year, or the First Christian Church of Trenton.  Online condolences may be left at whitakereads.com
Mrs. Robbins was born July 14, 1923 in Macon, MO the daughter of Jasper Ray and Iva Nadine Henderson.
She was a graduate of Monroe City, MO High School where she was a Drum Majorette for six years; Christian College (now Columbia College) in Columbia, MO, where she accompanied numerous soloists and groups, receiving the Buchroeder Award for Outstanding Musicianship; and the University of Arizona in Tucson with a Bachelor of Music.  Her graduate studies were in pipe organ in the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
In 1948, Mrs. Robbins returned to Columbia to be on the staff at Christian College.  It was there that she met Bill Robbins who had graduated from the University of Missouri before serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.  On May 4, 1950, they were married at her mother’s home in Columbia, and then settled in Bill’s hometown of Trenton, where she resided until her death.
Mrs. Robbins was involved in Pi Beta Phi Sorority, Sigma Alpha Iota Honorary Music Fraternity, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), P.E.O. Sisterhood for 71 years, Shakespearean Circle, American Association of University Women, Daughters of the American Revolution, The American Legion Auxiliary, First Christian Church, where she was organist and directed the youth choir, and the Grundy County Museum.  She was a leader of Brownie and Girl Scout troops, state and national president of the Association of Mutual Insurance Companies Auxiliaries, and was involved in local, state and national chapters of Republican Women Federation.  She was honored twice by being Grand Marshal of the Missouri Days Parade.
In 1975, she was appointed to the Missouri State Bicentennial Commission by Governor Christopher Bond.  She traveled statewide presenting Bicentennial flags to 65 towns and cities.  Mrs. Robbins served on the Trenton Beautification Committee, which was responsible for making esthetic improvements to the city.  In 1976, she and Clarence Breazeal, then mayor of Trenton, sponsored the tree planting project southeast of the Geyer Hall Building on the campus of North Central Missouri College in Trenton.  Her efforts as a member of the state commission were responsible for a federal grant to establish the Grundy County Historical Society Museum, now one of the county’s major public attractions.
She also accompanied her husband on insurance and Masonic trips throughout the United States and world.  Two trips to the Holy Land in 1968 and 1971 were most important to her.
Her aptitude in music surfaced at a very early age and continued as a dominant interest in her life.  She wrote her first music composition, “My Music Box” when she was six years old, and continued throughout her life composing over 40 copyrighted songs for individuals, organizations, and special events, with 16 of those songs written for a musical play, “Billy the Kid.”  Sharing her music was one of the most enjoyable parts of her life.  Playing for the local men’s group Brothers in Song in the 1970s was a special highlight.  She always felt and expressed that her musical abilities were a gift from God.
Besides her music, Mrs. Robbins’ greatest asset was her endless enthusiasm for life, seeing something positive and finding beauty in most everything.  She loved interacting with people and was blessed with the ability to remember people’s names.  She felt it was her duty to learn new things and stay current with the day’s news.  Patriotism and love of her country were evident in all areas of her daily life, from saluting the flag in her front yard each night to thanking military personnel and veterans for their services.
She is survived by two daughters, Meredith Black and her husband Gary of Trenton, Marsha Eaton and her husband Randy of Warsaw, four grandsons, Guy Black of Jefferson City, Jacob Black and Lindsey of Trenton, Eran Eaton and Tammy of Columbia, and Alex Eaton of Columbia; and five great-grandchildren, Anna Nadine, Karinne Marie, Kaitlynn Marie, Triston Mason, and Grant William.
She was preceded in death by her devoted husband, Bill on January 3, 2012, her parents, a brother J.R. Henderson, and a sister Charlotte Ann Watson.