A family affair: Gen. Warner Robins' grandchildren visit base, museum

  • Published
  • By Angela Woolen
  • 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFNS) --  The namesake of the city of Warner Robins and Robins Air Force Base had three daughters.

Brig. Gen. Augustine Warner Robins and his wife, Dorothy Gretchen, were the parents of Dorothy Robins Gray, Elizabeth "Betty" Warner Robins, and Helen Robins Guilfoyle.

On Oct. 26, the three children of the youngest daughter, Guilfoyle, made the trip from Texas to the city named after their grandfather for the first time.

Anne Guilfoyle Charlton and her husband George; Jane Guilfoyle Ward and her husband Michael; and Frank Guilfoyle with his wife Mary, were greeted by Col. Jeffrey King, the 78th Air Base Wing commander, and Warner Robins Mayor Randy Toms at the Museum of Aviation.

King told the family about the importance of the base's numerous missions to the military. He also spoke about how the town of Wellston, which was the city's former name, has grown around the base.

Toms then spoke with the family about how the town has grown in population in the past several years.

"Our roots are intertwined -- the Museum of Aviation, the town, the base. We're tied together," King said. "We hope your grandkids would come to visit."

The grandchildren were all born after Robins' death, but all remember "Mommy Robins" talking about her late husband.

Charlton said her grandmother was proud to have a city named after her husband.

"It makes us feel like royalty," she said. "It's a good family heritage."

One thing she remembers her grandmother telling them was how Augustine Warner Robins loved to fly but due to a crash, wasn't allowed to.

Robins graduated from West Point Academy and was in the cavalry before becoming a pilot. The oldest grandson has Robins' cavalry sword.

The family toured the museum and was given a windshield tour of the base. They took pictures of the portrait of their grandfather in the art gallery at the museum.

As Charlton looked at the portrait of the late Robins, she couldn't remember a single portrait or picture where her grandfather was smiling.

The mayor presented the family with a key to the city as well as city of Warner Robins pins.

"It seems kind of funny to give the key to Warner Robins to the family of Warner Robins," the mayor said. "Thank you for letting us be Warner Robins."