"It was love at first sight."
That’s what JoEllen Robinson said happened when she first laid eyes on her future husband, John Nicholas Robinson, at a school dance in Minnesota.
"We met the summer of my graduating year from high school, and one of my girlfriends and I had gone to the dance together," JoEllen said. "I saw him dancing with her, and I knew I wanted to meet him."
She asked her girlfriend who he was, and she told her his name was Nick, a nickname because he was actually John Nicholas, and she introduced them.
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"People say there isn’t such a thing as love at first sight, and that is such a lie," JoEllen said. "I fell in love with him the minute I saw him. We went together and then got engaged while he was in the military."
She said Nick and his friend were signed up to go to Vietnam, and when he came back in 1969, they were married May 10, 1969, in Aurora, Minnesota.
They have two children, Nicole Jo Hart and Michael Jon Robinson, and four grandchildren.
"We had 51 years together, and I wouldn’t trade those years for anything," she said.
Nick was 73 when he died July 12 at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour.
"Originally, he had two cancers — one inside of his kidney and one outside his kidney," JoEllen said. "The one outside of his kidney was an aggressive cancer, and he went to Norton Hospital, where they removed his kidney, a tube to his kidney and a lymph node."
He went through rounds of chemotherapy and rang the bell after he was done with his treatments because they said he was cancer-free.
"It wasn’t even six months down the line and he found a hardness in his tummy," JoEllen said. "I told him we were going back to his doctor right away, and we learned his cancer had come back with a vengeance."
Nick had radiation treatments, but the cancer grew. Hospice came in, but he didn’t want anyone to change his bandage except for JoEllen.
"Through it all, he kept smiling all the time, and one day, I asked him why," she said. "He told me, ‘It’s because of you, Ellen, because I love you so much.’ He was such a blessing to me."
She said Nick was a Vietnam veteran, and she knows he died of agent orange, which caused the cancer he had, but the military isn’t recognizing it.
When Nick died, he was at 80% with his benefits, and unless he was at 100%, JoEllen wouldn’t receive any of those benefits.
"What I’m living off of is some of his Social Security and mine," she said.
She recently entered The Tribune’s Christmas light decorating contest so she could have a chance at winning a prize.
"Then it turned into something else, and now, it’s not about the prize. It’s all about honoring my husband and his memory," she said.
Robinson, however, wound up being the winner of the contest, receiving 1,155 votes. Her prize is a 50-inch television from Luecke Audio Video Appliances in Seymour.
Her 15-year-old granddaughter, Samantha, helped her decorate the house.
"The first time, I went out there and put up all the top lighting, and the second time, she was out there with me for about four hours," JoEllen said. "That’s not counting the hours I spent working on some of the things by myself, but she was a big help to me."
JoEllen said many family members and friends showed support by voting for her house in the contest.
"(Nick) absolutely loved Christmas, and I’m having a really hard time trying to get through Christmas," JoEllen said. "I’ll be having my family over two days in a row, but it’s just so hard without him."
After retiring from the military, Nick went to work at Walmart in management for 15 years, which is what brought them to Seymour and led JoEllen to meet Maggie Smith.
Smith and JoEllen met a long time ago when they were both working downtown.
"I worked in Seymour at workforce development for the government, and she worked at the beauty school downtown," Smith said. "JoEllen would take walks past our office, and I’d get out and walk sometimes and we’d run into one another, and that’s how we met."
She said JoEllen also is a wonderful baker and bakes a lot.
"Even though it was difficult for her, she took cookies to the EMTs who took Nick out of the house the night he had to go to the hospital and died," Smith said. "She took cookies to the fire department and cancer center, too."
She said JoEllen’s husband served the country honorably for 22 years in the U.S. Army and spent a year on the ground in Vietnam, where he was exposed to agent orange and developed cancer from it.
According to publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange, agent orange was a tactical herbicide used by the U.S. military for control of vegetation.
It was named for the orange band around the storage barrel. The military sprayed agent orange and other tactical herbicides during the Vietnam War.
Veterans who may have been exposed to agent orange include veterans who served in different locations, including Vietnam, the Korean Demilitarized Zone, on Thai Air Force bases and at other locations, and also those who flew or worked on C-123 aircraft.
Smith said JoEllen loved Nick like there was no tomorrow, and they have a beautiful love story and went to Hawaii to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
"She has decorated her house in his memory and wanted to tell her story," Smith said. "She is an adorable person, and Nick was such a great guy, and their marriage was fantastic."
Smith said JoEllen is very giving.
"My husband, John, is taking cancer treatments right now, and JoEllen has gone to the store for us," Smith said. "She would do anything for her neighbors and is a wonderful person."
JoEllen and Nick renewed their vows during their trip to Hawaii last year.
"We said our vows on the beach there, and one of his favorite pictures was of us in Hawaii," she said. "Even when he was sick as a dog, he was showing that picture to the nurses and telling them about the trip and how he loved every minute of it."
JoEllen said every bit of suffering her husband had to endure is recorded in her mind, and she feels the military needs to recognize him.
"Even though it was over 50 years later, he gave his life for his country," she said. "I read where around 399 Vietnam veterans die every day, and concerning agent orange, they said it can show up many years later, even 50 or more."
She said he knew that statistic and unfortunately became one of them.
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Results of The Tribune’s 2020 Christmas light decorating contest
First place: JoEllen Robinson, 1,155 votes (prize is a 50-inch television)
Second place: Chris and Sarah Hall, 357 votes ($100 gift card)
Third place: Steven Pittman, 251 votes ($50 gift card)
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