Evelyn Robertson

Services for Evelyn Robertson, 89 of Cleburne will be conducted at 1:00 P.M., Wednesday, July 8, 2015 in the Crosier-Pearson Cleburne Chapel. The Reverend Mark Ely will officiate. Burial will be in the Rosehill Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Roger Holmes, Alvin Holmes, Michael Brown, Tommy Smith, Gary Kelm and Casey Wilken.
Visitation will be from 6-8 P.M., Tuesday, at the funeral home.
Evelyn Robertson passed away Saturday, July 4, 2015 in Cleburne. She was born Oct. 23, 1925 in the Lakenon community, northeast of Hillsboro to Asa Edward and Cora Elsie Garrett Smith and grew up as a farmer’s daughter. She graduated from Hillsboro High School in 1943 and soon became a civilian typist working for the U.S. Army, first in San Antonio and later in Hondo, Texas. It was in Hondo where she met Warren Eugene “Rob” Robertson who was an enlisted aircraft mechanic at the nearby Army airbase. They married in Hondo on Mar. 17, 1945. After the war, Evelyn and Rob moved to Johnson County, first on land just northeast of Cleburne and finally to a home on Poindexter St. in Cleburne.
While raising her two sons, Evelyn worked as a bookkeeper for a number of Cleburne businesses during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. In 1964, Evelyn and Rob decided to start their own business ventures. While Rob opened a sales and service operation, Evelyn purchased the H&R Block franchise for Cleburne and opened a small office on N. Main St. The tax preparation business grew rapidly so she acquired a larger building at 1400 N. Main St., where the business is still located today. When Rob died in 1975 after sharing 30 years of marriage with Evelyn, her son, Keith joined her in running the tax business. This tax preparation business has grown to become one of the largest and most respected H&R Block franchise operations in the country. Evelyn’s success was largely due to her hard work and intelligence as well as to her effective business practices and interaction with her many clients. She had an entrepreneurial approach to business, a trait that was remarkable for a woman of the era. Her son, Keith has continued her tradition and has grown the Cleburne tax franchise to include another office on West Henderson in Cleburne and a third in Joshua.
Evelyn is survived by her two sons, Gary Wayne Robertson and wife Charlene of Point Venture and Keith Ray Robertson of Cleburne; brother, George William (G.W.) Smith of Bryan; two grandchildren, Bliss Ballew and husband Brandon of Burleson and Dustin Ryan Robertson of Burleson; two step grandchildren, Alexis Christine Stokes and husband Peter of Austin and Michael Anderson Brown of Houston; five great grandchildren, Shane, Emily, Bryce, Bailey and Blake; three step great grandchildren, Madeleine, Olivia and Amelia.
She was also preceded in death by her parents and two brothers, Elton and Barney Smith.