Halina Maria Robinson

On September 27th, 2021 at her home at Windemere on the Mount, London, Ontario, Halina Maria(Czajkowska) Robinson in her 95th year. Beloved wife for 57 happy years of the late Dr. James Russell Robinson. Born in Poland on June 23, 1927 to the late Czeslaw Karol Czajkowski and Emilja Czajkowska. No stranger to remarkable hardship, Halina grew up the daughter of a Polish military officer when World War II struck. After fleeing for Warsaw in late 1940, she attended an underground school and later witnessed the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto. It was in 1944 that Halina and her mother were arrested during the Warsaw Uprising and transported to the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, and from there deported to Bergen-Belsen. After the liberation of Bergen-Belsen in 1945, Halina and her mother were sent as displaced persons to Sweden, where Halina studied to become a chemical engineer. Halina graduated in 1950 and would join a cancer research lab at the Nobel-Karolinska Institute where she learned histochemical and biochemical techniques. Halina immigrated to Canada in April 1951 and sponsored her parents to join her in London. She was a research scientist at the Collip Cancer Research Laboratory at Western University, London and the Pediatric Research Laboratory at Victoria Hospital, London. It was at the Collip Laboratory that Halina discovered plant extracts effective in treating cancer and childhood leukemia. It was also at the lab that Halina met her husband, Dr. James Russell Robinson. After an early retirement, she put her energy towards water colour painting, wood carving, and volunteering at Museum London. She was also a lifelong learner taking courses in Art History at Western University..
Friends are invited to the Mass of Christian Burial at Our Lady of Czestochowa Polish Catholic Church, 419 Hill St, London, ON N6B 1E5 on Friday October 1, 2021 at 10 a.m. As per COVID -19 regulations, all visitors will be required to be fully vaccinated, wear a mask, maintain physical distancing, and provide their name and contact information for contact tracing at the church upon arrival.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dr. & Mrs. James Russell and Halina Robinson Western Libraries Textbook and Materials Acquisition Fund, at Western University; attention Kendra Lealess, Western University, Westminster Hall, Suite 110, 1151 Richmond St., London, ON N6A 3K7 (cheques payable to Western University) or by calling 519-661-4200 or online at www.westernconnect.ca/robinson or the Our Lady of Czestochowa Polish Catholic Church. Online condolences at www.oneilfuneralhome.ca .