Robin Marsha Peterson passed away peacefully, surrounded by friends, music, and laughter on October 20, 2024, at age 76, in Rochester, NY. She was predeceased by her husband, Dennis Peterson, her parents Isador and Viola Bragger, and her brother, Edward Bragger. She is survived by her son, Lawrence (Sameer Farooq) Switzky, and her stepchildren, Paul Peterson, Denise Peterson, and Susan Peterson.

Robin was born in 1948 in Brooklyn, NY, and spent her early years in a large and lively household that included her beloved grandmother Sarah, whose wisdom she admiringly quoted. She graduated from Brooklyn College with a B.A. in Political Science and married her first husband, Richard Switzky. She later received a masters degree in education from Nazareth College.

Robin spent her entire working life as a teacher of and advocate for children with disabilities and special needs. She was especially passionate and tireless in her support of children on the autism spectrum. She oversaw educational programs for preschool-aged children and delivered talks and workshops throughout New York State on testing for autism, the dangers of labeling, and the provision of services to children and their families. She also founded and coordinated Headstart and early childhood education programs organizations including Rochester Children’s Nursery and Volunteers of America. She nurtured the individuality and creativity of hundreds of children. Every aspect of Robin’s life and career reflected her compassion, her curiosity, and her deep playfulness. She was sought out, respected, and loved for her knowledge and the engaged sincerity of her care.

In recent years, Robin made many friends at Linden Knoll and in the Active Older Adults community at the Eastside YMCA. She enjoyed devouring and discussing visual art, music, and literature and found great pleasure in travel. She is remembered by everyone who knew her for her generosity to those in need, her relish for giving gifts, her keen intelligence, her adventurous, wide-ranging, and overflowing conversations, her ever-present and buoyantly silly sense of humor, her strength and endurance in the face of hardship and ill health, her dazzling and energetic attentiveness, and the delight she took in being, thinking, and doing with others.

She was interred on Monday, October 28 at Wellwood Cemetery in West Babylon, NY.

Celebrations of Robin’s life will be held on Thursday, October 31, 2024 at 11am at Linden Knoll, 81 Linden Avenue, and on Friday, November 1, 2024 at noon at the Eastside Community Room of the Eastside Family YMCA, 1835 Fairport Nine Mile Line Road.

Please consider donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital (stjude.org) and the Eastside Family YMCA (https://rochesterymca.org/locations/eastside-family-ymca)