Elissa Beth Robinson, a Detroit Free Press web editor who inspired legions of people with her resilience and determination in the face of stage 4 colorectal cancer, died of the disease on Tuesday, July 14 at Corewell Health Beaumont Hospital in Troy.
She was 42 years old.
A brilliantly creative and gifted writer, Robinson crafted many of the best headlines for Freep.com over the last 13 years.
“Nobody wrote digital headlines like her,” said Brian Manzullo, the company’s director of digital strategy and operations. “Nobody thought of off-the-wall ideas and innovative ways to reach new readers on the fly the way she did.”
Robinson built photo galleries, made videos for social media and reported stories she instinctively tailored for the Free Press audience, while constantly improving and polishing the work of others.
“Our hearts are broken,” said Free Press Editor and Vice President Nicole Avery Nichols. “We will miss Elissa as a fellow journalist and beloved member of the Free Press newsroom. But Elissa was also an innovator, an inspiration and a friend.
“She will be remembered in our work going forward, but also in our everyday lives as we recall her bravery and fierce commitment to all things positive.”
Robinson lived boldly, never allowing obstacles to stop her from achieving her goals — whether they were as simple as refinishing a piece of furniture or organizing a murder-mystery girls’ trip, or as difficult as overcoming anxiety about public speaking. Somehow, she did it all with grace and courage, even managing to address a crowd of hundreds gathered at the Detroit Walk to End Colon Cancer.
When Robinson first learned in May 2021 that she had stage 4 colon cancer, she approached it the way she approached everything — with candor, a wicked sense of humor and dogged determination.
“Ever since that day, I’ve been fighting,” Robinson wrote. “Fighting for my own life and fighting for a future that doesn’t include cancer — a task that at times feels insurmountable.”
She was unwilling to accept that the disease was incurable and dove into a relentless search for the latest advances, for the nation’s best surgeons, oncologists and interventional radiologists. Robinson never lost hope that she could buy herself more time with the people she loved, that she could stay one step ahead of the cancer.
“It will never be enough,” Robinson said in 2025 about the days she didn’t want to be numbered with her daughter, Harper; her husband, Russell Robinson, and her parents, Betty and Sam Saputo.
Through almost all of the five years she endured aggressive cancer treatments, Robinson continued to work full time at the Free Press — somehow juggling roles as the devoted wife, mother, daughter, co-worker and friend who “looked after us, defended us and fought for us, even as she was fighting during her worst moments,” Manzullo said.
Robinson raised money to buy Girl Scout cookies for the nurses and doctors treating her at the University of Michigan’s Rogel Cancer Center. During chemotherapy infusions, Robinson often balanced her computer on a nearby tray table or on her lap, working while the toxic cocktail coursed through her veins.
She collected thousands of dollars in donations each year for the Colorectal Cancer Alliance and openly told her story to Detroit Free Press readers, viewers of local TV news programs, along with followers on her social media platforms. Every time, she’d remind people to get a colonoscopy screening, signing off with #checkyourcolon.
In 2024, Robinson became among the first five people in Michigan and the first 15 nationally outside of clinical trials to undergo histotripsy, a therapy developed at the University of Michigan that uses intense, targeted ultrasound waves to liquify cancerous liver tumors.
Even after histotripsy failed, along with all the other treatments Robinson pursued, she never lost hope.
Even when the pain became insufferable in June, she insisted on taking one last family trip to California to visit her cousin. She sang silly songs with Harper and spent every spare minute soaking up the joy that came from being around the people she loved.
“Harper was her proudest accomplishment,” Russell Robinson said, recalling that when his daughter and his wife were together in any room, there almost always was laughter. Much of it was spurred by Robinson’s quick wit and comedic hijinks.
“There is so much I’ll miss,” he said. “We’ve been through a lot together. And she would always say to me — no matter what it was, no matter how high or how low — she would say to me, ‘It’s OK. We’re going to make it through it together.’
“Now, I wonder sometimes how I’m going to make it.”
One of Robinson’s close friends, Detroit Free Press Editorial Page Editor Nancy Kaffer, said she inspired everyone she met — and even some people who’d never met her, but found encouragement through Robinson’s social media posts and comments on an online colon cancer support group site called Colontown.
“I’ve always known she was an exceptional human being, but, since she died, the tributes and the comments and the posts people are making online have made it clear that she was even more beloved than I knew,” said Kaffer. “She was even more exceptional than I realized.”
Yet, Kaffer said, Robinson would scoff at that characterization because she was so humble.
“She thought she was just a mom and a wife and a daughter from Macomb County,” Kaffer said. “She didn’t really think of herself as this powerful presence, but she really was.”
Robinson graduated from L’Anse Creuse High School in Harrison Township and went on to study journalism and electronic media at Eastern Michigan University.
She interned at WDIV-TV (Channel 4) and later landed a job as a news producer at the station. She went on to work for a time at WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) as well, before taking a job at the Free Press in 2013.
Her work ethic, her mother said, was “unbelievable,” noting, however, that Robinson never worked harder than when it was to support someone she loved.
When her brother, Nick Saputo, died in a 2010 car crash at the age of 28, Robinson organized a scholarship fund in his memory. Her brother was a musician who loved the arts. Over the years, she and her parents have awarded about $50,000 to high school graduates with a passion for music that echoes his.
In 2017, Robinson took up another collection to support the children of her cousin Jill Saputo, who also died of colon cancer.
And when one of her dearest friends, Amy Huschka, needed thousands of dollars to buy a wheelchair-accessible van for her son, Martin, Robinson came through yet again.
In addition to her husband, daughter and parents, Robinson is survived by her stepson, Matthew Robinson; an aunt, Gina (Steve) Rogers; uncles Greg (Laurie) Saputo, Joseph Mueller and Ken (the late Irene) Mitchell, as well as numerous cousins, friends, colleagues and countless others she met in her five-year cancer journey.
She is predeceased by her grandparents Elizabeth Beres and Sal and Jean Saputo, in addition to her brother.
Public visitation is planned for 2-9 p.m. Sunday, July 19, as well as 10-11 a.m. Monday, July 20, at Wujek-Calcaterra & Sons, 36900 Schoenherr Road, Sterling Heights.
A celebration of life is planned for 11 a.m. July 20 at the funeral home, followed by a private burial.
Her daughter asks that those who attend services for Robinson wear blue, which was the color of colorectal cancer awareness. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to a GoFundMe account to help the family cover the cost of her medical bills: https://tinyurl.com/3pbm6p8f.
Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Elissa Robinson, Free Press web editor, inspired countless others in 5-year cancer fight
Reporting by Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
