Colleagues remember Fred Robinson, services announced
Posted: 06.20.2011 at 4:31 PM
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Update: June 21st

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He fought to make Flint the first city to outlaw housing discrimination, and last Friday he was killed inside his own home.

Seventy-nine year old Fred Robinson is being remembered for his courage to stand up for what he believed in as police try to find out why anyone would want to kill him.

Balloons fly outside the Flint office of Fred Robinson as friends, family members, and co-workers go through stacks of his legal cases he won't be able to serve.

Police found Robinson shot with a handgun inside his own Brookside Drive home late Friday night.

The lead detective tells NBC25 he has no suspects at this time.

Those who knew Fred say they don't know why anyone would want to hurt him.

"Fred was an icon. Fred was someone who we all could look up to," says Frank Manley, an attorney who knew Fred Robinson well.

"It's a very tragic, tragic loss that he's no longer with us," says Flint Mayor Dayne Walling, who says over the past few months he worked closely with Robinson who served on the compensation commission trying to change local elected officials' pay.

"We had talked about the need for that cut. He was very supportive and made sure that the other commissioners were all prepared to vote for that cut. They had never done anything like that before. He was not someone who was afraid of change that had been done a certain way in the past," says Walling.

Colleagues say Robinson stood for his principles but also knew how to work well with people.

"He always, always, always represented his clients to the best of his ability. He was never intimidated no matter the type of case, the type of client, publicity, he did his job and certainly that was to be admired," says Manley.

Robinson is best known for his work in getting housing discrimination outlawed in Flint in 1968, the first of its kind in the country.

Robinson's visitation will be Sunday at the Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home in Flint from 9AM to 6PM.

The memorial service will be Monday at Christ Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church at 11AM.

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