Robin Koptik was born in Chicago at St. Luke’s Hospital and grew up on the city’s northwest side.

Robin was a deeply intelligent, creative, and thoughtful person. She was an accomplished writer and artist whose drawings often resembled photographs. She had a lifelong love of music, could DJ across decades, and had a particular affinity for big band music of the 1940s. She also delighted in dinosaurs, history, and philosophy.

Robin cared deeply about people, especially those who were often overlooked. She was a prosumer mental health advocate and wrote articles to encourage people recovering from mental illness to reclaim their lives to the fullest extent possible. Her story, A Life Worth Living, was published in the book Coming Out Proud to Erase the Stigma of Mental Illness. Helping others, listening well, and standing up for those who needed care were core values that shaped her life.

Throughout her working years, Robin held a wide variety of jobs, including furniture refinishing, managing a nursery, and working for the Journal & Topics newspaper in Des Plaines. No matter the setting, she brought curiosity, kindness, and a concern for others.

Robin’s faith journey was thoughtful and expansive. Raised Catholic, she later described herself as agnostic before gradually coming to know Jesus through study, reflection, and lived experience. She believed the universe is “form-fitted” so that everyone has a place within it, and that there is an ongoing, living conversation between God, humanity, and all of creation. She often said that God was never far away, but present and engaged.

In recent years, Robin found a spiritual home at Irving Park United Methodist Church which merged to become Renewed Hope United Methodist Church. This community allowed her to feel welcomed and accepted. There, she shared her gifts through writing, illustration, and meaningful conversation, and found a place where she belonged.

Robin is remembered as a deep thinker, a gifted artist, a quiet but caring presence, and someone who was not afraid to be fully herself. Robin shared her life with her roommate, Linda Ramsey. Linda’s death in 2023 marked a meaningful loss for Robin and was deeply felt by those who knew them.

She is survived by her siblings, Dan, Connie and Debbie, her niece, Elizabeth, and by many whose lives were touched by her compassion and advocacy.

In accordance with her wishes, her body was donated to science.

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