Business and Community Leader and Veteran Arthur Robbins Dies

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Rhode Island business leader Arthur Robbins has died.

Robbins, the principal of Robbins Properties in Providence, was a volunteer leader in HopeHealth, Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, Butler Hospital Foundation and so many others.

He served on more than 20 civic and nonprofit boards and has received numerous awards for his leadership, citizenship, and philanthropy.

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1932, Arthur grew up and went to school in Woonsocket and then attended Wilbraham and Monson Academy.

He received a BA in Economics in 1954 from the Wharton School/University of Pennsylvania and served for two years as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. 

Robbins married his wife, Judy, in Washington DC in February 1957 and moved back to Woonsocket, where he worked with his father in manufacturing until the family moved to Providence in 1969.

After studying the hospitality industry, he saw the development of the TF Green Passenger Terminal in Warwick as a good opportunity for hotel development nearby. In 1959 he and a partner built the 36, and then later 84-room Warwick Motor Inn, now the Radisson Inn.

That started a hotel development that helped to create the Providence Marriott, the Newport Marriott, and other hotels throughout the New England region.

Service will be held on Thursday, February 22, 2024, at Temple Emanu-El, located at 99 Taft Avenue in Providence.