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My daddy died on July 26th, 2012 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. While father and son relationships can be contentious at best, I wanted to point out certain aspects of his life that make me proud to be his son.
Don Cobb was born on August 6, 1930 in Reseda, California to Glen and Mabel Cobb. At the time his father was the San Fernando Valley distributor for the Los Angles Evening Express Newspaper.
By 1932, the family moved back to their hometown of Durant, Oklahoma and Don graduated from Durant High school in 1948.
Don attended Southeastern State University in Durant from 1948 to 1950 before enlisting in the United States Air Force in 1951.
He was assigned to pilot training at Bryan Air Force Base in Bryan, Texas and graduated with the 1952 "G" class. What followed was air to ground combat training at Bainbridge, Georgia and then air to air combat training at Orlando Air Force Base in Florida.
At 22 years of age, Don was assigned to the 311th Fighter Bomber squadron based at K2 Air base in Taegu, Korea during the Korean War. He flew F84 Thunderjets on missions not only in North Korea but into communist China. At the time the United States denied any military action in China and it was well known among pilots that if you were shot down north of the Yalu River it might be years before you were repatriated.
Don remained in Korea until 1953 and was actually flying a mission over North Korea when the Armistice officially ending hostilities was signed on July 27th, 1953.
After Korea, Don was chosen to be part of one of the first Transatlantic refueling flights of F84 Thunderjets and KB29 Tankers from Bryan, Texas to Sturgate, England. The pilots knew all too well that if something went wrong over the chilly North Atlantic in a small fighter jet that the chances for survival were extremely slim.
By 1954; at the tender age of 24, Don was once again chosen to be part of an elite group of pilots based at Gardermoen Air Force Base in Norway.
Each pilot was on 24 hour alert status and carried a live nuclear weapon on the belly of their F84 Thunderjet. In the event of war, Don's target was a Russian submarine base on the Baltic Sea.
After Norway, Don worked for North American Aviation teaching Navy pilots to fly their version of the F 86 Sabrejet. He also briefly considered becoming a commercial airline pilot for Eastern Airlines.
In 1956 Don decided to go back to Southeastern State University in Durant and finish his degree with the ultimate goal of entering Optometry school.
He married Lavon Lewis of Antlers, Oklahoma in 1958 and graduated from Southern College of Optometry in 1960. After a brief stint with Dr. G.W. Clay in Ardmore, Oklahoma; Dr. Cobb opened his Optometry practice in Bartlesville in the spring of 1962.
He continued to practice until his retirement 49 years later in 2011.
Dr. Cobb was preceded in death by his parents Glen and Mabel Cobb of Durant. His wife Lavon Cobb of Bartlesville and a sister Sarah Cobb Jackson of Kansas City.
He is survived by his son, Dr. Bradley Cobb of Bartlesville and a daughter in law Kelly Cobb as well as two grandchildren Dallas and Taylor Cobb of Bartlesville.
Arrangements through Stumpff Funeral Home of Bartlesville.
Don Cobb, a 1948 graduate of Durant High School died on July 26, 2012 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Don Cobb was the son of Glen and Mabel Brown Cobb who were longtime residents of Bryan County.
His paternal grandfather D. W. Cobb homesteaded what became the town of Cobb north of Durant and also gave the land that became the original Cobb school. His maternal grandfather Robert Brown homesteaded what became the town of Brown north of Durant and also ran the post office in Brown.
Interestingly enough; the post office at Brown was originally called Robbers Roost, but in 1909 the U.S. post office refused to continue a mail route called Robbers Roost, so Robert Brown suggested his last name of Brown which was eventually agreed upon.
Don Cobb enlisted in the United States Air Force and was a combat fighter pilot in the Korean War. He was a graduate of Southeastern State University in Durant and Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tennessee. He practiced optometry in Bartlesville, OK from 1962-2011.
He was preceded in death by his parents Glen and Mabel Cobb of Durant. His sister Sarah Cobb Jackson of Kansas City, and his wife Lavon Lewis Cobb of Bartlesville, OK.
He is survived by a son, Dr. Bradley Cobb and his wife Kelly Cobb of Bartlesville, OK. His two grandchildren; Dallas and Taylor Cobb of Bartlesville, OK.
Arrangements through Stumpff Funeral Home in Bartlesville, OK.
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