Louis Earl Robertson
Louis Earl “Pinky” Robertson was the first baby born in Dallas, Texas on New Year’s Day, 1929. He passed away Christmas Eve at the age of 91 years, 11 months, and 24 days. Pinky was the only child of Fletcher Robertson and Lois Brumme Kagy, and he lived in Dallas until moving to Andrews to teach in 1958. A member of Theta Chi fraternity and graduate of North Texas State University with bachelors’ degrees in Art and History, he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict from 1951-1953, and when he returned, he finished his master’s degrees in Art and History at North Texas. He taught elementary art for one year in Dallas before he headed west to Andrews and it would be his home for 62 years.
Pinky was an accomplished artist and a master teacher, teaching art, history, yearbook, math and coaching at Andrews Middle School until 1967 when he moved to the art position at Andrews High School where he taught several thousand students until he retired in 1991. Pinky’s proms and homeroom window projects were legendary for their detail, wit and artistic flair.
A lover of Boy Scouts and Archeology, Pinky and Barry Thompson (former chancellor of Texas A&M University) founded the local Archeology Explorer Post in 1958 and began a dig in Quemado, New Mexico on the Ball Ranch of a pueblo site that would teach hundreds of young men and adults about ar cheology and the history of Pueblo Native Americans. For his sixty years of devotion and service to scouting, he received the District Award of Merit, Vigil Rank in Order of the Arrow, Founders’ Award, Silver Beaver Leadership Award, Wood Badge, Award for Longest Continuous Registered Unit for Post 144, and he designed numerous awardwinning patches for scouting.
He was also an officer of the Texas Archeological Society and the New Mexico Archeological Society, and he authored a book about the details of the archeological dig on the Ball Ranch. He was a long-time member of Andrews Presbyterian Church.
Pinky was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his adopted sons Steve Elkins of Pottsboro, TX and his children Blake, Brooklynn, Jameson, and Jackson; and Danny Smith of San Saba, TX and his daughter Dylan Taylor-Smith of Dallas, TX. Also special friends to Pinky include Mark Savell of Andrews, Brandy “Betts” Thomas of Dallas, Waynette Dolan and Jan Baldwin of Cibolo, Tx, and Cindy Tochterman of Andrews. He will be remembered by former students and colleagues as an outstanding mentor and teacher at Andrews Junior High and Andrews High School. Although his blood family was tiny, Pinky’s chosen family spanned the world of scouting, archeology, and school.
Pinky requested that services for him be those who wish to honor him to go out and look at the clouds and the wonder of God’s world. Memorials for Pinky can be given to a local Boy Scout troop, Texas Archeological Association, or a Covid related charity.
