Robin Squier Goldsmith

Robin Squier Goldsmith—daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, student, scholar, friend -- died peacefully at her home in Wilmette, Illinois on March 7, 2024. She was 92 years old. Robin was born January 31, 1932, in Flint, Michigan and grew up in suburban Detroit as part of a loving family. Robin was the beloved daughter of William Wray Squier, Sr. and Virginia Robertson Squier, both from New York City. Robin’s father, an engineer and professor, started his career with General Motors in the 1920’s to be on the forefront of the booming automotive industry. Robin’s mother combined her talent for acting with her love of literature by performing live book readings and reviews of the new publications of the day. Robin’s parents encouraged her independent spirit and intellectual development by sending her to Kingswood School for Girls in Bloomfield Hills, part of the Cranbrook Schools, when she was twelve years old until her graduation in 1950. Her years on the Cranbrook campus, designed by Eliel Saarinen, were the beginning of her education and appreciation of architecture, the arts, and modern dance. Robin remained a loyal and active alumna of Cranbrook and maintained lifelong connections with her friends from that time. Robin attended the University of Michigan where she majored in history and continued studying modern dance and choreography. After graduation in 1954, Robin moved to New York City where she worked as a guide at the recently completed United Nations Headquarters, which instilled in her an interest in other countries and cultures. In the evenings, she studied dance with Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham. Robin traveled extensively as a young adult. She spent a year touring Scandinavia and Europe with a friend, working through the winter at Schloss Elmau, a famous resort in Bavaria. In the late 1950’s Robin lived in India for two years as a guest of her godfather, T.S. Krishna, who had been a student of Robin’s father. This was a formative experience for Robin. While in India, she studied classical Indian dance with Chandralekha and met the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr through her association with the Gandhian Foundation. She lived mostly in Chennai but traveled throughout India with members of her extended Indian family. In the early 1960’s Robin moved back to the United States and settled in Chicago, working for the Council on Foreign Relations and for Marshall Field’s in the Department of Special Events. In Chicago she met the noted architect Myron Goldsmith whose early career began in the office of Mies van der Rohe. He was a General Partner in the Chicago office of Skidmore Owings and Merrill and a Professor at Illinois Institute of Technology. Robin and Myron recognized each other as soulmates and married in 1962. Through Myron’s career in architecture and his focus on high-rise and long-span structures, Robin was drawn into the company of the leading figures in the architectural world. Their son Marc was born in 1966 and daughter Chandra was born two years later. They made their home in Wilmette, filled with books and art, where Robin would regularly gather friends, family, architects, and educators for her legendary Sunday brunches. As a couple, Robin and Myron led a purposeful life together of shared interests in architecture, art, music, and travel until Myron’s death in 1996. In1980 Robin began graduate study at Northwestern University in the Department of the History and Literature of Religions and pursued her deep interest in Judaism. In 1986 she earned her PhD; her doctoral dissertation compared the social ethics of Reinhold Niebuhr and Martin Buber. Robin was a humanist and brought the heart of Buber’s theology into her own life through her genuine relationships with others and through teaching social ethics at Northwestern in the 1990’s. Robin was a lifelong student, a voracious reader, and lover of books. Her tastes ran primarily to non-fiction, but she also loved poetry and Shakespeare. She attended the Shakespeare Festival in Canada for 29 straight seasons. Robin was a member of The Arts Club, The Fortnightly, and The Cliffdwellers. She served on the Photography Committee at the Art Institute of Chicago and on the Board of Directors of the Open Door in Sandwich, IL, a sheltered workshop for developmentally disabled adults, which had been founded by Robin’s parents and which was the home and workplace of her brother Billy. Although Robin was, in many ways, a woman ahead of her time, she never embraced email or texting. She preferred in-person or phone conversations and wrote countless long handwritten letters to friends and family. She continued to travel extensively to Europe, the Middle East, and Central America visiting close friends wherever she went until late in life. She mentored, nurtured, and inspired people of all ages—especially the women in her life. Robin’s warmth and inclusiveness contributed to her extraordinary gift for friendship. And for the many who loved her, the grief at her death is surpassed only by the gratitude for her life. Robin suffered a deep personal tragedy in April 2021, when her son Marc died during the COVID pandemic. She is survived by her daughter Chandra Gray (Steven) and her grandchildren Serena Sacco (Adam Kadzban), India Gray and Amon Gray. There will be a celebration of Robin’s life in May. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Myron Goldsmith Memorial Endowment at IIT’s College of Architecture. To give on-line, go to https://www.iit.edu/givenow. To designate your gift, click Other from the drop-down menu and type in the Myron Goldsmith Memorial Endowment in the designated field. There will also be fields indicating that your gift is in memory of Robin Goldsmith. Checks may be made out to Illinois Institute of Technology. Please indicate in the memo section or in a note accompanying that your gift is in memory of Robin Goldsmith and should be directed to the Myron Goldsmith Memorial Endowment. You may send checks to Illinois Tech Advancement, 7565 Solution Center, Chicago, IL 60677-7005, Attn: Alice Barda. Arrangements by Inclusive Funeral Care, 773-370-2959 or www.InclusiveFuneralCare.com.

Robin Squier Goldsmith

January 31, 1932 - March 7, 2024