Deanna Robyna"Robyn" Colquhoun was born on 9 May 1939 in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Robyn was adopted into her new family at around 3 years of age, and her sister was adopted a couple of years later. Her adopted mother changed her name from Deanna to Robyna, and then it was shortened to Robyn.Many years afterward, she discovered she also had a half-brother.
Her father was a mechanic who served in the Medical Corps during the First World War for several years, while her mother worked as a dressmaker
Robyn’s adoptive mother had been unable to have children following emergency surgery, making the adoption of Robyn and her sister especially meaningful.
Robyn attended primary school in Palmerston North before enrolling in secretarial college, where she learned shorthand and typing. At the age of 19, she met her first husband through church. Together they raised four children. During these busy years, Robyn worked part-time in a plumbing business while her mother helped care for her young son. Determined to provide for her family, she often worked as many as three jobs, after separation from her husband just to make ends meet.
Later in life, Robyn reconnected with Colin, whom she had first met at college. Their romance began with an unusual story, Robyn nearly ran him over with her car. Feeling guilty, she invited him in for a cup of tea and a biscuit as an apology. Just three months later, they were engaged.
Robyn and Colin eventually moved to Australia, where Colin worked for Sanitarium. Around 1998, they settled in Bonnells Bay, New South Wales. The family experienced sadness in 2006 with the loss of Robyn’s eldest daughter, Lynell, to breast cancer.
Today, Robyn lives with her daughter Alene in Cooranbong , and is the proud grandmother of seven grandchildren. Throughout her life she has enjoyed knitting, sewing, reading, keeping up with the news, and watching her favourite television soap operas.
