Thomas Gregory Robbin, 77, passed away at his home from pancreatic cancer, surrounded by his family, on December 26, 2025, in Valparaiso, Indiana. He was born in 1948 in Gary, Indiana, to Mauvelyn Renee Robbin and Harry Noah Robbin.
Thom made many fond memories growing up in Miller, Indiana near his cousins, David and Lisa Jordan. His mother encouraged his love of theater and music, and spared no expense to expand his cultural horizons despite her modest schoolteacher salary. Each Saturday, Thom took the South Shore Line into Chicago to attend piano lessons. He continued to play his entire life. Ragtime became a favorite. He and his mother took summer train trips to Oklahoma to visit his maternal grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. In more recent years, he enjoyed reunions with them. He loved reminiscing about those joyful times.
Thom graduated from Wirt High School in Gary, while involved in many community musical theater productions. Thom attended Indiana University in Bloomington and earned his Bachelor of Arts in Theater, Radio and Television in 1972, followed by a Master of Science in Education in 1983. He was a member of the Delta Chi fraternity, and remained lifelong friends with his fraternity brothers. If he didn’t text his daily Wordle score, they knew something was amiss! Thom was working in educational media design and production for Indiana University when he met his future wife. Thomas married Lynn Marie Goodwin on October 27, 1979, in Bloomington. Later, Thomas worked in Cincinnati, Ohio in various aspects of commercial film and video production.
Thom and Lynn welcomed two children, Amanda (1986) and Daniel (1988). Thom adored his kids, taking them on camping trips and family vacations, teaching them piano, and preparing pancake breakfasts. In 1995, Thom received his law degree from Indiana University in Indianapolis. After practicing personal injury law, he later specialized in immigration law in Indianapolis and Chicago. He and Lynn were happily married for 46 years and enjoyed many shared hobbies, including birding and international travel. As empty nesters they took annual trips to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, where Thom discovered a love of scuba diving. His other interests included music, photography, politics, history and family genealogy. Turner Classic Movies was on most days with the requisite trivia commentary!
Thom is survived by his wife, Lynn M. Robbin, his children, Amanda R. Rizzo (Luca) and Daniel N. Robbin (Noa), brother, Howard Schelly, and three grandsons: Matteo, 9 yrs, Giovanni, 6 yrs and Thomas Rizzo, 6 months. He was their “Grampy” who loved to spoil them, read to them and make special pancakes. He was always teaching them about nature, to respect all of God’s creation, and to enjoy their shining moment of life
A special thanks to the VNA palliative and hospice staff, who provided compassionate and loving care.
Services will be held at Moeller Funeral Home, 104 Roosevelt Rd., Valparaiso, IN on Friday, January 2, 2026. Visitation will start at 10:30 a.m. with a funeral service to follow at 12 noon. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Save the Dunes (https://savedunes.charityproud.org/Donate/?cid=23300); the National Immigrant Justice Center (https://immigrantjustice.salsalabs.org/donatefy2026/index.html); or VNA Hospice of NWI (https://www.vnanwi.org/give.php).
GUESTBOOK
I have many fond memories of Tom—Robbo and Lynn. I was the wife of a Delta Chi fraternity member. We attended many parties together and shared a lot of laughs. He will be sadly missed. -Susie Paxson
I am one of the youngest of the Wilson Clan. Everyone knew of Thomas and BiddyWilson, they had the most beautiful women in Murray County. TG’s mom was beautiful!! My mom would get so excited when she and Tom would come to Oklahoma. Miss him so much. -Chris Green
