History of the Library

A Brief History of the

Rex Robinson Memorial Library

FUMC, Quitman, Texas

Rex Robinson, a native of Wood County, grew up in the Coke Community and was a member of the Methodist Church during his childhood and teen years. He graduated from Winnsboro High School and Sam Houston State University, where he majored in Agriculture. For a time he was the District Conservationist for parts of the Brazos-Grimes County area. He lived in Navasota during those years and married a Navasota girl, Beth Johnson. A son, Mark Johnson, and a daughter, Jill, were born to the couple.

Mr. Robinson's father and a partner had a building supply company and construction company in Quitman during the '60's. (Their company, Wilder and Robinson, built the current facility, with the exception of the Fellowship Hall wing.) When Mr. Wilder died in 1962, Rex's brother Bill and his family moved back to Quitman to join the business. In 1963, Rex and his family moved here to join Bill in the business.

All of the Robinsons were active in the church and Rex Robinson was no exception. He served the church in many capacities. He also became active in community affairs, serving on the City Council for a term. At the time of his death in 1969, he was the mayor of the city.

When he died, many memorials were given to the church in his memory. A few months later, the Administrative Board voted to use the funds given to establish a library in his name. The family concurred, and the library was opened in 1970. Its first home was the corner space which is currently the minister's office. The Fellowship Hall wing was added and the space which had served as the Fellowship Hall was divided; one part became the present library and the other today’s Open Door classroom.

The library has enjoyed extremely dedicated leadership from the beginning. The funding has come predominantly from memorial donations, plus a small contribution each year in the church budget. Mr. Robinson's son Mark was a true benefactor of the library until his death in 2004. Mark's wife, Jill Meil Robinson, requested that any memorials be designated for the library. Again, through the generosity of many of the same people who had earlier made the dream a reality, the library gained income to operate successfully.

The Rex Robinson Library should be a source of great pride for our members, for many churches much larger than ours have smaller libraries.

Mr. Robinson's sisters, Maxine and Kay, sister-in-law Jane, widow Beth (now Beth Hedges) and cousin Jack Robinson are all members of this church.

-      Beth Hedges