DANVERS — Almost every weekend from May to November, Linda Robinson and her husband, Joe, would pack up their car or recreational vehicle and head out with their three Doberman pinschers to area dog shows.

"She always loved the look of a Doberman," Joe Robinson said yesterday. "It's a very stately and majestic-looking dog."

So when their youngest dog, Brady, got sick last weekend, Linda put him in the car on Sunday to take him to Bulger Animal Hospital in North Andover, which offers an animal emergency room.

For some reason unknown to her husband, Linda Robinson, 56, stopped along the way and got out of her Jeep Grand Cherokee on Conifer Hill Drive near the Danvers Plaza entrance. That was shortly after noon.

That's when Robinson was struck by a Cadillac Escalade driven by 29-year-old Thomas Lantych of Danvers, a Beverly firefighter.

Robinson was taken by Lyons Ambulance to Beverly Hospital, where she later died. State police said the crash remains under investigation.

Hospital staff called Joe Robinson at home at 12:45 p.m.

"She will be sorely missed by those who knew her and loved her," said Robinson, who would have been married to Linda 37 years in November.

"I have been getting phone calls from all over the country, friends and relatives that I haven't heard from in years," he said.

Born in Ipswich and raised in Peabody, Linda Robinson and her husband moved to their home on Stewart Lane in North Beverly when the development opened in 1972.

She worked in sales at Desjardins Jewelers in Beverly for almost 22 years, co-owner Kim Mannetta said.

"(Her death) is a loss to all of us," Mannetta said. "It was such a tragedy."

Working at a family-run business, Mannetta said staff at the jewelry store have become family.

"We've experienced so much together, it's like losing a family member," Mannetta said.

Robinson had recently become a grandmother and was enjoying the opportunity to spend time with her grandchildren.

Each of her sons had a baby in the past year: Travis, born last September, and Caedmon, born April 30.

"She adored those kids," Joe Robinson said. "She spoiled them rotten. We have more baby stuff in the house than when we had kids of our own."

While also a proud grandmother, she was also the proud owner of her Dobermans, Brady, Maya and Zoe.

They would travel as close as Topsfield and as far away as Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, to have one or all three dogs compete in conformation, agility or obedience shows, mostly put on by the American Kennel Club.

"They are bred to protect, that's what they do," Robinson said, "but if I brought you into the house and told them you were OK, the only thing you'd be in danger of is getting licked to death."

Following the crash, Brady was still inside the Grand Cherokee. The vehicle was not struck by the Cadillac sport utility vehicle.

Police spotted the Doberman inside and notified the animal control officer, who brought Brady to Danvers Animal Hospital down the road.

Staff there recognized the animal needed to be taken care immediately and started treating Brady for a gastrointestinal problem, Robinson said. He picked Brady up yesterday morning, and the dog is recuperating.