Anyone who remembers Henry Robinson when he was a child growing up in Edgartown in the fifties can recall his many acts of mischief. His childhood adventures included catching a bat with his cousin, Louisa Blair, and — thinking it a newsworthy treasure — taking it to show his sister Margaret at the Vineyard Gazette, where she was a cub reporter. The ensuing chaos when the bat was released into the press room culminated in editor Betty Hough shrieking, “Get those children out of here!”

But it was his active nature that defined who he came to be — and his abundant energy defined a life devoted to military service, business, and family. These are the things his family now remembers since his death last month at age 64 at his home in Gettysburg, Pa., after a long illness.

Henry was born in 1945 in Miami, Fla. and spent his formative years in Edgartown, where he lived with his parents, Louisa Price and Roger Sherman Robinson and older sister Margaret in the Daniel Fisher House on Main street. He attended the Edgartown School and later graduated from Darien High School in Connecticut. He entered the Navy after high school and served with distinction as a hospital corpsman aboard ships and an SSNB submarine, and spent two years as a combat corpsman attached to the 1st Marines, 1st Force Recon in Viet Nam. His cousin, Charlie Blair of Edgartown, remembers that “He always wanted to serve; he looked up to his father’s service in the Navy in World War II. I knew he was going to be a soldier.” He received numerous decorations for his service in Viet Nam, including several Purple Hearts and a Silver Star.

In 1972, Henry was living in Corning, New York, running a well-known bar called “That Other Place.” When Hurricane Agnes dropped an unprecedented 19 inches of rain on the region, Henry assisted in rescue operations and was awarded the New York State Medal of Valor for jumping from a National Guard helicopter to save a man who was struggling in the flooded Chemung River.

“I was in Corning a month after the floods, and it put 17 feet of mud in his club,” said Charlie Blair. “It was a devastating flood for Corning. But Henry helped everyone, and he was famous. Everywhere he went people stood up and shook his hand, his name was on everyone’s lips. “

Henry eventually settled in Gettysburg, Pa., where he lived with his wife of 36 years, Sue Ann Paxton Robinson. He worked in construction, insurance, and hotel management, and ran the Gettysburg Travel Lodge for 15 years. He was active in the Gettysburg Travel Council and the Gettysburg Country Club where he played golf with his wife. He also enjoyed sailing when on Martha’s Vineyard, or while visiting his in-laws in Florida. In addition to his wife, Henry is survived by his son Roger Sherman Robinson of Gettysburg, his two daughters, Nicole of Tampa, Fla. and Heather of Fairview N.J.; a sister in law, Lora L. Paxton of Gettysburg, and mother in law Renee Paxton of Venice, Fla. His loss is keenly felt by his Island family: his sister, Margaret Steele of Edgartown, and his cousins, Charlie Blair of Edgartown, Nancy Blair Vietor of Edgartown and West Palm Beach, Louisa Blair Pfaelzer of Morrisville, Vermont, and John Blair of Miami, Fla.