‘We loved Hayley so much.’ Daughter of UK assistant remembered for ‘great spirit.’
Hayley Robic, the eldest daughter of Kentucky basketball special assistant John Robic, has died. She had been diagnosed with liver cancer and was seeking a transplant. She was 27.
“We are all devastated and grieving over the loss of Coach Robic’s oldest daughter, Hayley,” UK Coach John Calipari tweeted Thursday. “Please keep Robes and his family in your thoughts and prayers.”
The cancer was discovered last fall. More than 1,000 people reportedly responded to the call for a possible donor.
“These past several months have been the hardest of my life,” Hayley wrote on Instagram in making the request for a donor.
After graduating from UK in 2014, Hayley Robic worked as promotions and community relations manager at Keeneland.
“We loved Hayley so much,” said Kara Heissenbuttel, Keeneland’s director of patron experience. “So, it’s been difficult. But, wonderful to think about the impact that she had at Keeneland and the community.”
Keeneland featured Robic as the spokesperson for a video touting Keeneland’s services to communities in Central Kentucky.
“Because she was just one of those selfless people who was so hard-working and determined and focused and really wanted to do her part to serve the community,” Heissenbuttel said.
Robic volunteered in the Special Olympics program. Among her duties was to coach a basketball team.
“There were a lot of Keeneland folks that went and watched her teams compete and to cheer them on,” Heissenbuttel said, “which was really sweet.”
Robic won Keeneland’s Employee of the Month award. “She was adored by her co-workers,” Heissenbuttel said.
Bill Thomason, the president and CEO of Keeneland, said Robic made an immediate winning impression on people.
“These young people who just feel comfortable around whoever it is because of their spirit,” he said. “That was her. Very young, intelligent woman with this great spirit.”
Robic left Keeneland in August 2016, to move to Houston. She kept in contact with the Keeneland community.
“Never for once lost a second of communication back home,” Thomason said. “You always felt like she was still there because every time she was home, she came out. She’s one of those if you haven’t seen her in two months and she steps into the room, it’s like she just walked from one room to another.”
John Robic worked on Calipari’s staffs at UMass and Memphis, joining him at UK in 2009. Robic and his wife, Heidi, have two other daughters: Alli and Sophie.
