The Hacienda will be a little less full, a little less lively moving forward. James Robinson won’t be there with his pals.
Robinson died Saturday in Michigan, where he was scheduled to work the replay booth for the Fresno State-Michigan football game. A Kokomo resident and decades-long fixture for referring locally and around the state, Robinson was 75.
“He could eat Mexican food every day,” Pat Dumoulin said. “We’d always go to Hacienda and one day I tried to say we need to go somewhere else, he said ‘Nope.’”
That group of sports officials, Robinson, Dumoulin and Dennis Jackson, were regular lunch partners.
“Usually once a week we’d go, about every Tuesday or Wednesday,” Jackson said. “I’m really going to miss that. The Hacienda, that was his favorite place, I think. I’d suggest someplace else and he’d kind of grouch around about it and we’d end up at the Hacienda.”
Robinson was an Indianapolis native who went to college at IU Kokomo, returned to Indy, then moved up to Kokomo to stay in his 30s. Around that time, he got involved in officiating various sports and kept working his way to the top. He officiated IHSAA state finals in baseball, football and basketball, and worked as a football referee in the Mid-American Conference and Big Ten.
As an officiating lifer, Robinson had a lot of friends among umpires, officials and referees, as well as in schools and press boxes. Three of those friends, Dumoulin, Jackson and Scott “Scooter” Mason talked about Robinson’s life and their friendships.
“There was a guy from Anderson named Johnny Wilson, I’m sure you’ve heard of Jumpin’ Johnny Wilson,” Jackson said. Wilson was Indiana’s Mr. Basketball in 1946 as a senior at Anderson. “He was one of James’ teachers at [Indianapolis] Wood High School Johnny would take James with him when he’d go to referee, when James was still a young kid in high school. That’s how James got interested in it, found out he was pretty good at it.”
As an adult, Robinson got more and more involved, officiating various sports and making friends along the way, and occasionally getting an earful.
“Me and James started umpiring together,” Mason recalled, searching for a year. “I graduated from Logansport in ’81 and probably around ’85 or ’86 me and Jim started working together.
“One time we were working a game and they were yelling at Jim between innings,” Mason continued, enjoying the memory. Mason went to the mouthy fan to show a copy of the rule book and a picture in it. “I said turn to Page 2, and there he is as the rules interpreter.”
Robinson worked for more than 40 years in one capacity or another involving officiating, as an official, and later as an observer of officials for the IHSAA.
“I think he liked the challenge of officiating, and I think he liked being around the people,” Jackson said. Robinson and Jackson became friends while working high school basketball and college football games together.
Jackson said “I think his ability to get along with people,” was Robinson’s strength. “James could be kinda crabby, but he was good to deal with coaches and in this business, you’ve got to be right most of the time, and he was pretty good at being right. He just had a knack for it. People always wanted him on their games, so that’s your biggest complement as an official, when the coaches want you there.”
Being right and knowing what he was doing made Robinson in demand.
“He was fun to ref with,” said Dumoulin, who became friends with Robinson when they refereed basketball games together starting in the 2000s. “He always had your back, and he was always going to be right. He was just enjoyable to referee with because he was professional at it. He’s in about three hall of fames.”
Robinson, who also did some coaching including seasons with the Kokomo Post 6 American Legion baseball team, was named to the Howard County Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. The Tribune last caught up to Robinson in 2020 when hew as elected to the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
“This was going to be his last year as a replay official,” Mason said. “He was going to retire. He’s done everything. He used to run the scoreboard for the Indianapolis Colts.”
A common thread among his friendships with Mason, Jackson and Dumoulin was how often they talked.
“He didn’t live more than a mile from me and we’d always call and talk,” Dumoulin said. “I had a sister die about three weeks ago and he was right there for me. He’s just a good guy. Gosh.”
Mason said he’s going to miss “talking to him every day like I used to. I’d just call him, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ I’ve had three referee friends die here in the last month: Dick Modricker, just got elected into the [Indiana] Basketball hall of Fame in May; and another official from Winamac, Tom Eehny. Then Robby dies.
“I talked to Robby two or three times a week. He had to go to this Big Ten game on Friday, so I at least called him on Thursday.”
When Mason called Robinson that Thursday, Aug. 29, he told Robinson, “Hey, have a good game, don’t miss any calls.” Mason didn’t know Robinson was fighting health problems. Robinson often kept quiet about those things.
“When I got that phone call about 4 o’clock Saturday, I about died,” Mason said of hearing the news that Robinson had died. “I didn’t realize, even being a good friend, he did not tell me he’d had some health problems going on. I didn’t know that til his daughter told me.”
He was determined to work. Several years ago, Robinson kept working basketball games even as he dealt with cancer and the effects of treatment.
“James had prostate cancer too. When he was going through that, he was reffing,” Dumoulin said. “We’d pick him up and he’d almost look white. He’d go to a treatment and we’d go pick him up and go wherever we were going and referee. And he’d never complain about anything. And wherever we went, everybody knew him. The schools, he reffed football, baseball and basketball for them, so people were always coming up, talking to him. He was just well liked amongst everybody.”
Mason has a photo of himself, Robinson, Jackson and Dumoulin at a basketball semistate in Logansport from last winter. The photo takes on extra significance now.
Robinson leaves behind daughter Chiquita Dacons, grandson Kameron Dacons, great grandson Kendryn Dacons, sisters Deborah Robinson and Michelle Walton in addition to a lot of other family and friends. Robinson’s wife, Nada, died in 2017.
The memories here are just a slice of the people who will miss him and only hint at the void left at games, at meals, car rides to games and on the phone.
“I loved him,” Dumoulin said.
Robinson’s funeral is set for Wednesday. Visitation begins at 10 a.m. at Shirley and Stout Funeral Home in Kokomo. The funeral is scheduled for noon.
