09:35 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 20, 2006

By JOE SIMNACHER / The Dallas Morning News

Thomas Pasche Robertson had a 35-year career at Braniff International, where he became the airline's expert on securing new routes. In retirement, he developed his photography hobby into a second career as a Dallas society photographer.

Mr. Robertson, 91, died Friday of complications of a stroke at a Dallas retirement center.

Mr. Robertson was a quiet, dignified man of few words, said his son, Ross Robertson of Richardson. "He was just very doting on Mom."

While Mr. Robertson might have had a quiet nature in his private life, he was known in the airline industry for his ability to win routes for Braniff, when authority to fly to new destinations was awarded by the Civil Aeronautics Board.

Mr. Robertson liked the challenge of obtaining the routes, his son said.

But when the industry was deregulated, he was one of the few Braniff executives to speak up about the dangers of growing too fast.

As his airline career grew to a close, Mr. Robertson found a second career in photography.

"He'd always taken pictures on all their travels, for new routes or just on vacation," his son said.

About a year before his 1980 retirement, Mr. Robertson took photographs at a social function. His photos received better reviews from the partygoers than the work of professionals who were documenting the event, his son said.

Mr. Robertson began getting requests to photograph society events. When the society editor at the Park Cities People newspaper retired, Mr. Robertson's wife, Agness Robertson, agreed to fill the vacancy for a year on a trial basis.

For more than 20 years, the couple covered and photographed society full time until their retirement for health reasons about four years ago, their son said.

"It was so exhilarating on Thursday when the paper came out and it looked good," Mrs. Robertson said.

Mr. Robertson was a perfectionist "who would insist that I get the people lined up, even if it meant walking clear across the room to get the best background, where the lighting was right," Mrs. Robertson said.

In retirement, Mr. Robertson didn't talk much about his history as an airline executive. He seemed embarrassed that Braniff had stopped flying and filed for bankruptcy about two years after he left the company, his son said.

In his 1984 book, Splash of Colors, John Nance writes that Mr. Robertson was one of the few executives to caution Braniff chairman Harding Lawrence not to expand too rapidly.

When Mr. Robertson retired at age 65, Mr. Lawrence gave the couple a pair of lifetime first-class passes on Braniff.

"We never used them one time," Mrs. Robertson said.

Born in Austin, Mr. Robertson received his bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

He worked in banking in Houston and for Lockheed Aircraft, now Lockheed Martin Corp., in Oklahoma City before beginning his career with Braniff.

A memorial for Mr. Robertson will be at 4 p.m. today at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home.

In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Robertson is survived by a daughter, Heather Kinnowr of Wasilla, Alaska; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the Frontiers of Flight Museum, or a charity of choice.

E-mail jsimnacher@dallasnews.com