Robertson, Louise

Louise “Pinky” (Fitzpatrick) Robertson, 75, of Fairport, NY, passed away peacefully on July 20, 2022 in Rochester, NY.

She was predeceased by her husband, Joe A. Robertson; parents, John Lyman Fitzpatrick and Helene (Moll) Fitzpatrick; her sister, Kathleen Rogers, and brother, Michael Fitzpatrick. (https://casadelninobilingual.com/)

She is survived by her children; daughter Christine Cook (nee Monson), married to Chris; daughter Stephanie Monson Dahl, married to Darren; grandson Colin Cook, and granddog Maggie Dahl; her brother Timothy Fitzpatrick and sister-in-law Patricia; her brother Peter Fitzpatrick and his life partner Janice Socha; many nieces, nephews and an extended, amazing family.   

Louise grew up the youngest of five adventurous children in Baldwinsville NY, and graduated from the American High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The experiences she had in and around Germany were formative, broadening her worldview and setting the foundation for her lifelong interests in making memories with family, sightseeing, and accepting all kinds of people. After high school she returned to the United States and lived in Indiana, Idaho, and Washington, where she had her first daughter, Christine, with then-husband John, before moving back to New York State. 

Not long after her second daughter, Stephanie, was born, she became a single mom and dedicated herself to raising her daughters. Being a divorced, single mom in the mid-1970s was not easy, but she made it look that way to her daughters. She helped them with school, made cookies, transferred her love of dancing to them, and modeled kindness, generosity and gratitude at every turn. Her parents John and Helene helped fill in the gaps during this difficult time, and Louise understood how fortunate she was to have family in her life. When her parents moved to Rochester in 1978, she got an apartment nearby, and was thrilled to now also be near her brother Timothy and sister-in-law Patricia. 

With a few business administration classes under her belt, she started a job at Monroe County’s Child Support Enforcement Unit. With her priority always being caretaking her daughters, she rarely dated or went out socially. Luckily, one spring evening a girlfriend from work convinced her to attend their friend’s birthday party, because that birthday boy ended up being the love of her life, Joe Robertson. Less than a year later, they were engaged; six months after that, Joe bought a house in Fairport, NY, put her name on the deed, and moved Louise and her daughters in. Louise married Joe in that house in 1982. 

They lived in Atlanta Georgia, Los Angeles California, Little Silver New Jersey, and San Francisco California before eventually resettling close to family in Fairport when Joe semi-retired. During that time Louise volunteered at the 1996 Olympics, took care of orphaned cats, delivered for Meals on Wheels, visited giant trees, lighthouses, historic sites and waterfalls, and was the best dancer on the floor at dozens of celebrations. 

She  enjoyed twenty seven years of marriage with Joe before his death in the fall of 2009. She then made a new life for herself as a fiercely independent widow, keeping the core of what made her who she always was: someone who put others before herself, whose favorite pastime was chatting with family and friends in small groups, who snorted adorably when she laughed hard, and loved making and eating cookies.     

A private celebration of her life will be scheduled at a later date. Donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or Lollypop Farm (the Humane Society of Greater Rochester)