‘She just loved people’: Lynn Robie, beloved former Sacramento councilwoman, dies at 84
Retired Sacramento City Councilwoman Lynn Robie, whose 13 trailblazing years in local government led the way in developing the Pocket neighborhood, died Nov. 23 of cancer, family and friends said. She was 84.
Loved ones remember Robie as a quiet but extremely kind-hearted public servant whose remarkable accomplishments continued well into her retirement from the council.
Robie spent her city government tenure as a strong advocate of women in police departments, in fire departments and in politics. She was elected in 1979 to represent District 8, at the time encompassing Sacramento’s Pocket-Greenhaven and Meadowview neighborhoods.
But a major redistricting shakeup in 1991 placed the Pocket — including Robie’s home — inside District 7. She retired from the council a year later, but told The Sacramento Bee soon after that she was happy to move on from the bustle and stress of that position.
Justice Ronald B. Robie remembered his wife as a “very unusual politician.” She wasn’t flashy and she didn’t brag. But she left behind a pioneer’s legacy nonetheless.
“She was so lovely. She believed in everybody. She saw goodness in everybody,” Ron Robie said. “We did a lot together. We traveled, and I was very fortunate to have her as my companion for 61 years.”
Ron and Lynn Robie met each other on a blind date in Oakland set up by high school friends, and married soon after Ron finished college at UC Berkeley, in 1958. They moved to Sacramento two years later.
Ron Robie served as a Sacramento Superior Court judge from 1986 to 2002, and has been a justice for the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District since 2002.
The judge said he’s gotten an “amazing” number of cards and notes in the past month mourning Lynn Robie’s passing, a testament to the community’s universal love for her.
“There wasn’t a person who met her who didn’t love her and admire what she was doing.”
Of her impact on the Pocket, Ron Robie said Lynn “made sure that it was a beautiful place and didn’t have a lot of trashy developments.”
She had been no stranger to hard work or public service prior to taking office. Robie worked in Sacramento for years as a registered nurse. Her license was still current at the time of her death, her husband said.
“Lynn Robie embodied the participatory style of Sacramento government with her strong connection to the Greenhaven-Pocket-Meadowview constituents she served,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. “She contributed to the health, safety and civic life of Sacramento in countless ways, from establishing the police academy in her first term on the City Council to championing the dog park that now carries her name. She was a true public servant, and she will be missed.”
Archived stories by The Bee document Robie’s other major points of focus during her time in office. Robie championed restrictions on smoking in the workplace and other enclosed public areas, and prohibiting the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products from vending machines. She pushed for millions in funding to fix eroded city streets.
Speaking with Bee reporter Walt Yost for a 1993 story titled “Citizen Robie,” the longtime resident of the south Sacramento area made it clear she had no regrets about leaving the council. She told Yost she was content for her time in city government to be over, calling herself a “very happy person” enjoying life as a private citizen.
“I wouldn’t run for council again,” Robie said on a May day in 1993. “I couldn’t do that again: never reading a book, never taking an art class. I could never go anyplace with my husband.”
Yost recounted Robie’s first several months of retirement: reading murder mystery novels, transforming her living room into something of an art gallery and helping her husband with some of the household laundry.
Worried she wouldn’t be able to keep herself busy after leaving city government, Robie soon became involved with numerous organizations, including Planned Parenthood and dental clinics offering services for people with disabilities and AIDS, according to Yost’s 1993 feature in The Bee.
Robie also spent two decades on the board of the Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center, now known as Next Move Homeless Services. She also worked for Sierra Health Foundation, administering grant programs in rural Northern California counties.
Current District 7 Councilman Rick Jennings remembers Robie as a personal mentor who provided him with advice and wisdom after he took office in 2014, as well as during his earlier tenure on the Sacramento City Unified school board from 1996 to 2008.
“She’s always been available to me,” Jennings said.
“You always remember Lynn Robie’s smile,” he added. “There was never a bad day being around Lynn Robie. If you were down she would lift you up.”
Jennings and the city chose to name District 7’s first dog park, adjacent to Sacramento’s iconic Freeport water tower, in Lynn Robie’s honor. Robie also was an honoree at this year’s Fourth of July parade.
Robie told Yost at that time she was proud of her efforts to expand Sacramento Regional Transit, but was disappointed light rail had not extended into south Sacramento. The Regional Transit Blue Line finally expanded into Meadowview in 2003, and stretched south again in 2014 with the opening of the Cosumnes River College station.
“She was remarkably successful even though she didn’t brag,” Ron Robie said. “... but she just loved people and wanted to help people.”
Allynn DeForest Robie was born Oct. 12, 1935, in Grand Junction, Colo. She is survived by Ron, son Todd Ronald Robie, daughter Melissa Lynn Robie, daughter-in-law Kym Keikalani Robie, and her four grandchildren.
Services will be held for Lynn Robie at the City Council chambers, 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 3.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Planned Parenthood Sacramento or Next Move Homeless Services.
This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 9:17 AM.
