Jackie Robinson Dies

Robinson's body, which had served him well as an athlete, failed early.

Heart disease complications and diabetes weakened him and made him almost blind by middle age. On October 24, 1972, he died of a heart attack at home in Stamford, Connecticut, aged 53. Jackie Robinson is interred at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. His grave is located about half a mile south of the Jackie Robinson Parkway, which bisects the cemetery.

On October 24, 1972, at the age of fifty three, Jackie Robinson died of a heart attack. However, his spirit lives on and provides an example to us all of real strength and courage in the face of adversity. Jackie gives us a heroic image that will never fade.

Jackie Robinson died on October 24, 1972. He had become a little crusty in his later years, angry at the slow progress blacks made in the game, upset that the game didn't seem to care about him or his history anymore, looked on sometimes as an Uncle Tom by the radicals of the black movement of the 1960's and forcefully relegated to the past.

His legend took off again in 1997 as the 50th anniversary of his arrival in the game was celebrated. Numerous books and articles about him appeared. His widow, Rachel Robinson, stepped forward to remind a new generation of his legacy.