Katharine “Kitty” Robinson is Birmingham, in a sense. Born and raised in the city, she has lived here nearly all of her adult life. Her great-grandfather was one of the engineers who designed the layout of the downtown streets. She has close ties to some of Birmingham’s most famous natives—Academy Award-winner Louise Fletcher, M*A*S*H star Wayne Rogers and actress Courteney Cox, to name a few.

But it’s her civic contributions that Mrs. Robinson is most proud of, rather than her connections. In particular, she highlights her family, her faith and her work with the Supporters Board of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Forming the Board
Mrs. Robinson became a charter member of the Supporters Board when it formed in 1984. She had received treatment for breast cancer at the Cancer Center in the early 1980s. “So long ago, I don’t even remember the year,” she laughs. The Cancer Center had also cared for her father, and through those experiences, she saw a need for help.

“There was a lot that we wanted to do for patients, but we also wanted to raise awareness of the center,” she says. “At that time, you could say, ‘Comprehensive Cancer Center,’ and people would say, ‘What?’” So Mrs. Robinson, along with a few others, including her childhood friend Lella Bromberg, formed the Supporters Board under the guidance of Albert LoBuglio, M.D., then director of the Cancer Center.

The Supporters Board’s mission, then and now, is to raise funds and awareness for the Cancer Center and to provide amenities for patients and their families. As a charter member, Mrs. Robinson has watched the board grow from humble beginnings (she recalls cutting flowers in members’ yards to decorate the first fund-raising galas) into a dynamic group of community leaders that has raised more than $8 million for the center.

“The most exciting thing for me has been to watch the progress at the Cancer Center,” Mrs. Robinson says. “Through the board, we’ve been able to buy equipment that wouldn’t have been able to be bought. We furnished labs that otherwise might not have been funded. It’s fun to be a part of that growth.”

Life Beyond UAB
A self-described “lifelong volunteer,” Mrs. Robinson remains an active member of the Supporters Board and also is involved with several other community groups. Along with the Cancer Center, she considers her mission work in Honduras to be one of the most important aspects of her life.

Mrs. Robinson and her husband, Gordon, a plastic surgeon, have traveled to the small Honduran village of Coyolas for the past 25 years to provide medical assistance for children born with physical defects. During that time, they have built a small hospital in Coyolas for their patients and operated on hundreds of children. “The work that we have done in Honduras is really special to me,” she says. “Many [of these children] have severe physical defects that they probably would never be able to have treated, but we’ve been able to help.”

Back in Alabama, Mrs. Robinson enjoys spending time with her family, which includes two children and six grandchildren. She and Dr. Robinson recently celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary and now divide their time between their home in Mountain Brook and their farm in Nixburg, Alabama. Mrs. Robinson is also an avid gardener and equestrian. “Everything I do, I do it with the presence of the Lord,” she says. “God and my family are the two most important things to me.”

So while she will happily speak about her connections to Hollywood, Mrs. Robinson would rather talk about her hometown and the Cancer Center. “Living in Birmingham all my life, I’ve watched UAB and the medical center grow, and I’m so proud of the way the Cancer Center has grown,” she says. “But with everything that’s been done, the Cancer Center hasn’t lost its personal touch. Patient care is still the most important thing, and that’s really nice.”