Mary "Robin" Apman Michaels McCauley

The Robin has flown. Mary was born April 22, 1926, in New York City, the daughter of William H Michaels and Ethel Apman Michaels. She was one of many Marys in the extended family, so naturally acquired a nickname, “Robin,” inspired by her red hair. 

She grew up in Pleasantville, New York, where she excelled at French, Latin, piano, Girl Scouting, walking on her hands, and turning cartwheels. She was the only girl who would climb to the top of the local ski hill! She dreamed of going West, and after graduating from Pleasantville High School, headed across the country to the University of Arizona in Tucson. There she met William “Bill” McCauley, a native Arizonan, who informed her that he would marry her during a blind date they both had tried to get out of. After two years of college, she realized she didn’t want any of the career choices open to her there, so went back to New York and enrolled in the Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School in New York City, acquiring her certification after a condensed one-year course. Bill graduated from the University of Arizona and followed her to New York, and they were married in 1947. 

Robin worked as a secretary in New York City at the Radio City Music Hall and later in Los Angeles at Southern California Edison Company while Bill pursued a PhD in Biology at USC. She helped him embalm alligators for his research work and typed up his dissertation. 

In 1954 Robin retired from secretarial work to become a full-time mother and homemaker, whether home was a house, a tent, or a camper. Her secretarial skills were used to keep the family organized with mysterious shorthand notes on her desk calendar. She and Bill moved back to Tucson in 1955 when Bill joined the faculty of the Biology Department at the University of Arizona. Bill passed away in 1992 and she remained in her home in Tucson until she was nearly 90, moving to Idaho to be close to one of her daughters. At this point she informed us that she now felt more like a Mary than a Robin.

Mary slipped quietly away August 7, 2024, at Creekside Care Center in Jerome. Our thanks to them for their loving care during her last few months. 

She was predeceased by her parents; sister, Willa; and husband, Bill. 

She is survived by her daughters, Lorna (Jim) Irwin of Jerome and Heather (Leo) Fisher of Albuquerque, New Mexico; grandchildren, Mavis Irwin, Kyle (Liz McClellan) Irwin, Ross (Layna) Irwin, Adam (Stacey) Fisher and Joshua (Dezarai) Fisher; three great-grandchildren, Ryan Fisher, Aurora Fisher and Briar Fisher. 

We suspect that somewhere, her spirit is turning cartwheels.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family on Robin’s memorial webpage at www.farnsworthmortuary.com.