Funeral services were held Monday for Delbert Wayne Robertson, who was remembered for his service to his community and his fellow man.
Robertson died Thursday, January 26, at the age of 82 in Shamrock. Funeral services were held in the Clarendon College Harned Sisters Fine Arts Auditorium with Rev. Bill Hodges officiating. Interment will followed in Citizens Cemetery in Clarendon with arrangements by Robertson Funeral Directors and funeral procession led by the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department and other emergency vehicles.
Robertson’s grandson, Chuck, eulogized the man he called his superhero and remembered the lessons that he taught his family through example while serving as a funeral director for 60 years and spending a lifetime in service to his community.
“My quick math shows that he handled about 8,000 funerals,” Chuck Robertson said. “That included 19 deaths from the tornado that hit Howardwick (in 1970).”
Through it all, the younger Robertson said, Delbert always put the needs of grieving families first and considered the funeral director’s service to be a mission.
“He was far from perfect but always steadfast and constant,” Robertson’s grandson Greg Collins said as he recalled stories of his grandfather’s hardworking nature.
Dr. Robert Riza, president of Clarendon College where Delbert was a 54-year board member, also spoke of Robertson’s legacy and extended condolences to the family on behalf of State Sen. Kel Seliger, State Rep. Ken King, and leaders among community colleges.
“Mr. Robertson served a lifetime in service to this community,” Riza said and noted that he and four former CC presidents agreed that Robertson was kind, gentle, compassionate, and servant.
Rev. Hodges praised the life of a man he called a close personal friend.
“Delbert was a good man,” Hodges said, “not so much so because of his actions but because at some point he accepted Christ as his savior.”
Delbert was born June 17, 1934 in Clarendon to George Andrew “Andy” and Sallie Elizabeth Robertson. Delbert was a native of Clarendon and a 1952 graduate of Clarendon High School. Delbert was also a 1953 graduate of Landig College of Mortuary Science in Houston. He then volunteered for the US Army near the end of the Korean War and was stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso.
In August 1953, he married Patsy Darlene Wallace in Clarendon. He returned home to Clarendon in 1956 and became a funeral director for Murphy Funeral Home for almost 10 years before obtaining a job with Blackburn-Shaw Funeral Directors in Amarillo in the mid-1960s. Delbert then came back home and worked again for Murphy Funeral Home.
He then opened Clarendon Funeral Home in October 1973. In December 1973, Delbert Robertson along with Maurice Schooler and Mack Gordon, funeral directors from Amarillo, purchased Murphy Funeral Home. Murphy Funeral Home and Clarendon Funeral Home ownerships combined and the name was changed to Schooler-Gordon-Robertson Funeral Directors. In 1975, Patrick Robertson, Delbert’s son, graduated from mortuary school and joined the firm. In January 1977, Delbert and Patrick bought out Schooler-Gordon and the named changed to Robertson Funeral Directors.
In 1998, Delbert and Patrick opened a satellite location in Claude. In October 2003, his grandson Chuck joined the firm. The Robertsons, purchased funeral homes in McLean in 2009, Shamrock in 2011, and Memphis in 2009, and bought out their competitor in Memphis in 2015.
After Patrick’s death in 2014, he then became partners with his grandson, Chuck. He has been a licensed funeral director and embalmer in Texas since 1957 and was awarded a 60-year licensee at the Texas Funeral Directors Association convention this past June.
Delbert was a lifetime member of the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Dept. and served as the Fire Chief of the Department for 32 years from 1980 until 2012 when he retired from that position and has been a lifetime member since 1953. He also a certified firefighter through State Firemen’s and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas.
Delbert served more than 50 years as a regent for Clarendon College, more than any other board member. He was a member of the first independent board of regents after the college separated from the public school district in 1962 and was a board member when the new Clarendon College campus was built and opened in 1968. He has served in various board offices and has served under many of the college presidents.
He was also a member of the Clarendon Lions Club where he has served in many offices including past president. He was a member of the Donley County Hospital District board when the new hospital was built in 1971 and held various offices on that board as well.
He was also a member of American Legion Adamson-Lane Post 287 in Hedley was a 50-year member of the Clarendon Masonic Lodge #700, AF & AM.
Delbert has been awarded funeral director of the year three times by the Panhandle Funeral Directors Association for the years 1979, 1985-1986, and 2004-2005. He also was awarded the Panhandle Firemen’s & Fire Marshals’ Association Firefighter of the Year in 2008. The Clarendon Chamber of Commerce bestowed their highest honor, the Saints Roost Award, on him in 1984 and again in 2001.
In August 2009, he married Naomi Lowe in Red River and they made their home in Clarendon and Shamrock.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Patsy on June 7, 2008; his son, Patrick on December 22, 2014; his step daughter, Linda Allison in 2015; two sisters, Maxine Howe and Georgia Speed; a brother, Glenn Robertson; and a daughter-in-law, Edie Robertson.
He is survived by his wife, Naomi Lowe of Shamrock; a daughter, Debbie Thompson and husband Michael of Clarendon; three grandchildren, Greg Collins and wife Jennifer of Bushland, Tiffanie Word of Clarendon, and Chuck Robertson and wife Amanda of Clarendon; seven great grandchildren, Abi and Maci Collins, Tristan Black, Gavin and Aiden Word, Jaxon Robertson, and Keighen Crump; his sister, Margaret Vines of Wellington; a daughter-in-law, Vicky Robertson of Clarendon; three step sons, Gary Lowe and Dennis Lowe both of Shamrock, and Boe Lowe and wife Sue of Lumberton; a step daughter, Glenda Harvey and husband Mike of Jonestown; a step son-in-law, Con Allison of Shamrock; his adopted grandsons, Cameron Word and Brayden Phillips; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, step grandchildren, and step great grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made to the Clarendon College Foundation, Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department, Citizens Cemetery Association, or a favorite charity.
Sign the online guest book at www.RobertsonFuneral.com
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