Robin Lee Nilsson

Robin Lee Nilsson, age 67, died in Grants Pass Oregon on November 4, 2021, of complications from breast cancer.

Robin was born in April 1954 at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California. She grew up in Los Altos, California with her parents Rosemary and Robert Senne, and her sister Sherrye. Bright and inspired by books and science, after graduating in 1972 from Los Altos High School Robin attended the University of California at Davis, where in 1976 she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Renewable Natural Resources.

After graduating Robin returned to the San Francisco Bay Area, securing her first job at the Ferry Morse Seed Company. Starting in an administrative role, she quickly caught the attention of the Information Technology (IT) team by creating new ways of solving day-to-day technical problems. Robin’s interest in technology shaped her career, with her first full-time technical role at Measurex Corporation in Cupertino, California, one of the first companies to develop computer control systems for industry.

While working at Measurex, Robin met Rik (Richard Nilsson). They married on August 1, 1982, in a small chapel in the redwoods at Brookdale Lodge in the Santa Cruz mountains. Just a few years later, Robin and Rik decided that California wasn’t the place for them and headed north to Southern Oregon. In 1984, they settled in the Little Applegate Valley area of Jacksonville Oregon, where they lived happily in a beautifully-crafted wood cabin on 10 acres for the decades to come.

Robin’s professional endeavors progressed during these years in Oregon, where she continued her IT career, ultimately spending the last 13 years at Fire Mountain Gems in Grants Pass. In the 2000s, Robin took her love of making scents and soaps and turned it into a business, Waters Gulch LLC. After working craft shows on the weekends for many years, she decided it had become too much to keep up alongside her IT career (and love of books, gardening, and baking) and closed shop. She did share her soap recipe publicly so others could enjoy it, still available at watersgulch.com!

Robin was diagnosed with cancer in October 2020. Rik was by her side as she adjusted to this new reality until his unexpected death in April 2021.

Robin is loved and missed by many friends and family. She is survived by her mother Rosemary Senne, her sister Sherrye McCready, her nephew Chris Anderson and her niece Terry Anderson.

A memorial service will be held for Robin at 3 pm on Monday, May 16, 2022, at the Eagle Point National Cemetery in Eagle Point, Oregon. All are welcome. In place of flowers, donations can be made to the Susan B. Comen Breast Cancer Foundation.