Obituary of Robin Lee Kruthers

I still remember bringing Robin home from the US Army hospital in Bad Cannstatt, Germany, to our fourth floor government quarters in Stuttgart, Germany. When not sleeping on my shoulder, she slept in a fold-up carrier because we were PCS'ing back to the United States in six weeks. My family was overjoyed to meet her in Virginia because we had not told them of her imminent arrival due to my Mother's high worry ratio.As the years progressed, Robin and her cousins, Judy & Jason, grew up together with my brother Bill and his wife Glenda's family living close by. Even my parents moved to our house in Virginia for the last few years of their lives, and thus were near our two families. After a second Army tour in Europe, we settled back in North Virginia, and Robin began her equestrian "career" at Woodlawn Stables by Ft. Belvoir. Robin competed on Almost Alpo, a large pony hunter, and then Spats, In Bold Print, a beautiful thoroughbred who became her ladies sidesaddle horse. In 2001 Robin was ranked eighth in the nation in ladies sidesaddle with Tom and me as her "pit crew" in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. From her early teens, Robin enjoyed drawing, so we have a nice collection of her artwork which included horses and some of her friend's dogs. Robin earned a Bachelor in Science from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, with a major in biology. She worked for ten years as a biologist at NIAD/NIH in Rockville, Maryland. Robin married Ryan Raven in 2013, and their daughter Whitney was born on St Patrick's Day in 2014 on a cold snowy night.Over the years, Robin became an avid snowboarder, so in late 2017 Robin moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado with Whitney and her two chihuahuas to be near the Rocky Mountains. By May 2018, it was discovered that she had oligodendroglioma, a cancer that grows slowly from the lining of the brain. After a five hour operation at the Anschutz Cancer Center in Denver, Colorado, she lived for four years while taking care of Whitney and watching her complete the second grade at Taylor Elementary School across the creek behind their house. Although Robin will not live to see her much loved daughter grow up, she will be watching over her with Love from Above.Robin is survived by her daughter, Whitney Elisabeth Raven, age 8; mother, Joan "Linda" Kruthers; and father, Thomas "Tom" Kruthers.Tom and I moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2019 to help Robin and Whitney, and we will remain here to help Ryan raise Whitney.Services Pending.Linda Kruthers, Robin's mother.