David Robinson ’51 Includes Gift to WRA in His Estate Plan

David Robinson ’51 and his grandson, Ryan Mock ’16

In his home in Hilton Head, David Robinson ’51 keeps a framed photo on his desk. It’s a picture of him embracing his grandson, Ryan Mock ’16, on the day Ryan received his diploma from Western Reserve Academy. “We’re both wearing the same Reserve ties, same jacket,” he said. “It was wonderful to be back for his graduation. I loved every minute of it.”

When Robinson looks back on his years as a WRA student, he can remember in great detail special moments he’s treasured over the years. His last soccer match in his Reserve career is a particularly fond memory. The year was 1950, and he was captain of the soccer team. The game was against archrivals University School, and Reserve won the match 2–0.

“That’s something I’ve never wanted to and never will forget,” he said before diving into the memory. The way he describes it in such detail almost makes it sound like it happened the other day. “My dear friend, the center forward John Maynier ’51, before the game said, ‘Come on out on the field, I want to show you something.’ He used his foot to make a mark in the grass on the right side of the goal. And he said, ‘I’m going to be pulling their fullback over at some point in the game, and you better be ready because I’m going to get the ball to you.’ And in the third period, it worked! It’s hard to believe, but it worked! He even had time to say, ‘Now, Robbie!’ ”

The victory is immortalized in the 1951 issue of Hardscrabble, which describes the game as “undoubtedly the climax of the Pioneer’s seven week’s work and practice, and the team had surpassed even the expectations of Captain Dave Robinson who had determined to ‘send U.S. home a beaten team.’ ”

He candidly admits that he can recall doing his fair share of grumbling from when he was a student at Reserve. “Most of us complained while we were there: don’t like this, don’t like that, why are they saying this? Why are they doing that?”—but he says that this attitude changed as he grew older.

“I’ve taken the chapters of my life clear back as far as I can remember, all the way back through my businesses and the Air Force and what have you, and I would have to sincerely rank my experience at the Academy as the number one chapter in my life,” he said. “I received collectively the important values of life at the Academy—discipline and honesty, for example, and I happen to rank athletics as possibly 30 percent of an education. It’s that important to me, and that’s what happened at the Academy. The competitiveness, the team spirit, and the ability to handle winning and losing—all of those things came together at Reserve, and I kept them all my life.”

His valuable time at WRA may not have been possible without, as he explains, the actions of his determined mother. “When I took the entrance exam at the academy in ’47, I did not fare well,” he said. “If it hadn’t been for my strong-willed and wonderful mother, I probably would never have been there. But she came down to the Academy and virtually pounded on the door of Headmaster Hallowell and they had a good visit. What happened was that Mr. Hallowell agreed to reconsider—and in the process of doing so, he suggested that I take the ninth grade over again. And that was very beneficial. I’m very appreciative of both Mr. Hallowell and my mother because of that.”

When he considers why he has decided to include Reserve in his estate planning, he readily says that, to him, the answer is quite obvious.

“When I value the Academy as much as I do, I feel I owe it,” he said. “I have no trouble feeling that way at all. That coupled with that fact that my grandson recently graduated, it’s feels fitting that I give. It was just the most wonderful, wonderful experience that I could ever dream of.”