The father of four sons, Thomas R. Robillard always sought to teach his boys the importance of doing their very best, a belief to which he adhered and was exemplified in the years he spent in the military, his career as a scientific researcher and his role as a parent.
“My father’s zeal for perfection was evident in even the smallest task,” said his son James.
“I remember a cold, snowy day when my brothers and I were shoveling the driveway for the third time that day. We got to the end of the drive and I noticed my older brother out in the middle of the street. I asked him what he was doing and he responded, `I’m sure Dad is going to ask us to shovel the road next, so we might as well get started.'”
Mr. Robillard, 77, of Naperville, died Monday, Feb. 16, in his home of natural causes.
Mr. Robillard was born and raised in Duluth, Minn. After high school graduation, he took a job with Lockheed in California on the assembly of P-38 aircraft and soon after joined the Navy. In World War II, he served aboard the USS Midway aircraft carrier, working on radar and communications systems.
“He had to physically climb to the top of the carrier’s radar tower, which was God only knows how far up, to do his work,” said his son Stephen.
After his military discharge, Mr. Robillard received an engineering degree from the University of Minnesota, where he was also a Phi Beta Kappa. In 1950 he married Joyce Shay, his wife of 46 years, who died in 1996.
Mr. Robillard received a master’s degree in nuclear physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and soon after began working with Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago. From there he went to Argonne National Laboratory, where he was involved in atomic-energy research.
“He developed a mild case of radiation poisoning during those years that he eventually bounced back from,” said his son Stephen. “He said part of his treatment included eating raw liver, which he couldn’t have been too fond of.”
After Argonne, Mr. Robillard went to work for Bell Labs, where he was involved in many communications projects, including the Telstar satellite, invention of the transistor and speakerphones. He retired in 1986 as a department head.
A Naperville resident since 1969, Mr. Robillard was an active member of the Naperville Evening Kiwanis Club, for which he served as past president. He received the Hixson Award and was named Kiwanian of the Year several times. Other community projects he was involved with included the Key Clubs in Indian Prairie School District 204, Civil War presentations at Naperville School District 203 elementary schools, Loaves and Fishes and Meals On Wheels.
Mr. Robillard is also survived by two more sons, Thomas and Michael; a sister, Gertrude Tarnowski; and three granddaughters.
Visitation is scheduled from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday in Beidelman-Kunsch Funeral Home, 516 S. Washington St., Naperville. Mass will be said at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in St. Raphael Catholic Church, 1215 Modaff Rd., Naperville.
