BK Robbins

BK Robbins It is with great sadness that the family of Barbara Kaye “BK” Robbins announces her passing from complications due to cancer on February 19, 2020, at the age of 82. BK will forever be remembered by her sister-in -law, LaVeta (Robbins) McCune, her many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. BK was born on June 7, 1937, in Clinton, Missouri, to Raymond and Opal (Detweiler) Gray. At the tender age of four, BK’s idyllic childhood was forever changed when her young mother passed away from a fatal case of measles. BK and her loving father forged on together until 1947, when Raymond married Lucille Kimes, a nurse who loved 10-year-old BK as her own. In 1955, BK graduated from Clinton High School and continued her education at Christian College in Missouri, where she cultivated many life-long friendships with her sorority “sisters.” In 1957, she graduated with an associate degree in Fashion Merchandising and soon began working as a dress buyer at the Jones Department Store in Kansas City. In 1960, BK was recruited to be a buyer for a women’s boutique in Wichita. Shortly after arriving, she was set up on a blind date with Bob L. Robbins, originally from Medicine Lodge, Kansas. The blind date led to an engagement and the couple were married in a formal church service in October 1961, in Clinton, Missouri. Bob and BK established their first home in East Wichita where Bob continued his career with Dillon’s, and BK continued hers in fashion retail, traveling on buying trips to New York City, Chicago and Dallas. Throughout her adult life, BK worked as a clothing buyer for different retail establishments as well as a real estate agent for Century 21. In 1994, after more than 30 years in Wichita, Bob and BK retired to the dream home they had built on the shores of Table Rock Lake in Shell Knob, Missouri. Together, they spent their golden years gardening, boating and fishing while enjoying the company of neighbors and friends living around the lake. In 2018, with Bob’s health declining, the couple returned to Wichita to be close to family. After Bob’s passing in March 2019, BK continued to live at Maple Gardens Village where she enjoyed making new friends and participating in the many social activities at the complex. Visitation, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m, Sunday, February 23; Funeral Service, 2:00 p.m., Monday, February 24, both at Downing & Lahey Mortuary West. Interment will follow at Resthaven Cemetery. Memorial established with Good Shepherd Hospice, 7829 E. Rockhill, Suite 403, Wichita, Kansas 67206.