Thelma Robbins was born on Nov. 16, 1911, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but she moved to California when she was young. She has been a resident of Long Beach for 70-plus years— the last 62 of them in Bixby Knolls.
While head cashier at Desmond’s Department Store in downtown Long Beach, she volunteered for the Red Cross, driving a supply truck during blackouts in World War II. After her husband passed away in 1952, and with a new baby to raise, she went to work for Mottell’s and Peek Mortuary as the garden room hostess.
Her love for Long Beach was later on display when she again volunteered her time greeting arriving visitors from overseas at the Port of Long Beach. While most of the tourists wanted to go to Disneyland and Hollywood, Thelma would encourage them also to spend time in Long Beach and offered to take them on tours of the city she loved. As an ambassador for Long Beach, she displayed an enthusiasm that got her hired by the port to continue what she was doing, which meant she was present for the arrival of the Queen Mary.
Thelma also championed the gay and lesbian community by starting Long Beach’s first chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). As one of the founding members of Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club, she traveled to Sacramento to lobby state and local politicians. At the first Human Rights banquet on the Queen Mary, she was honored with the outstanding parent award.
After suffering a stroke at 95 and being diagnosed with dementia, she remains what BKBIA Executive Director Blair Cohn describes as “a powerhouse of joy and laughter.” Cohn said, “When asked her age, her reply is always ‘old enough to know better and young enough to try.'” Cohn also said that Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster called Thelma “a pistol” recently, after meeting her for the first time.
Thelma will be honored by Foster and the Long Beach City Council on Tuesday, Nov. 15 and at her son’s store, Roy Robbins Gifts and Stationery, 4244 Atlantic Ave., during the community happy hour on Thursday, Nov. 17, from 5:30pm to 7pm.
