At almost 92 years old, Bill Cobb of Independence Township has lived a full life.
Born in 1916, Cobb grew up in North Branch, Mich., along with his four sisters Eliza, Harriet, Martha, and Marion, and his brother Burt. His mother was a nurse, who graduated from Alma College in 1903 with a class of five students, noted Cobb. His father tuned pianos.
‘Music was his life,? he said. ‘He tuned Henry Ford’s piano.?
Cobb attended Kingston High school until eleventh grade.
‘I had 20 credit hours. I quit in the eleventh grade. They wouldn’t graduate me because you had to have two years of Latin at that school to graduate,? he said. ‘I couldn’t cut it, I was getting D’s the first year I went through it and said ‘no more.??
Instead of going to study hall, the superintendent of schools took Cobb to his office where he learned how to type and do bookkeeping.
In 1932, he was first in line for the Civilian Conservation Corp, known as the CCC, which was established by President Franklin Roosevelt as a part of the ‘New Deal? to help young men from unemployed families.
‘It was run by the army,? said Cobb. ‘You went to Camp Custard for 30 days of training first in Battle Creek, Michigan.?
Upon returning home from the CCC, he did not return to school to graduate, but got a job at Pontiac Motors in 1935.
Three years later, with his siblings moved out of the house, Cobb moved to Clarkston in 1938 with his parents. They paid a land contract of $200 for their house on 44 E. Church Street. Meanwhile, Cobb continued working at Pontiac Motors three days a week.
‘It was enough to make the payments, buy me a new Pontiac and all that kind of stuff,? he said.
Soon, he was working full-time as well as double shifts. While at Pontiac Motors, he met Mae, who was a secretary at plant. The two fell in love and became engaged.
In 1942, he left for Miami, Fla., and enlisted as a cadet in the Army Air Force.
‘They didn’t have enough places for us when I got down to Miami, so they put me in the University of Florida for three months or so,? he said.
From there he went on to Cadet School in Waco, Texas.
When asked if he married Mae before entering the service, he replied, ‘No, she chased me.? The two married in Waco in 1942.
‘We weren’t supposed to get married until after you graduated, but we did,? said Cobb. ‘They didn’t kick me out.?
Cobb graduated from Cadet School, and then went on to Fort Worth, Texas, for Airplane Commander School. He became a B-24 bomber pilot and flew aerial mapping missions during World War II.
‘I was in the 24th Combat Mapping in India, Burma, China,? he said. ‘When we weren’t mapping we were flying oil to the Flying Tigers.?
Cobb was promoted from 2nd lieutenant to 1st lieutenant while in India. He was discharged from the service in 1946 and returned home to Clarkston, where he got a job working in construction for Ed Bailey.
‘Well, I didn’t want to go back to Pontiac Motor, I knew that,? he said.
He bought the lot his current house sits on, off Evee Road in Independence Township, for $175 from Bailey and built his house himself.
‘I had some help with the cement, but I did all the framing, built all the cabinets,? said Cobb. ‘There wasn’t enough building to keep my family going, so I did go back to Pontiac Motors for two years, between 1952 and 1954.?
From Pontiac Motors, he went on to work for Les Hutchinson building trailers for Mobile Homes.
‘He offered me about twice that I was making at Pontiac Motors,? he said. ‘He (Hutchinson) had accumulated $4 million and built a big factory on Williams Lake Road.?
Cobb was a head of purchasing, production, and material and did scheduling. Eventually the company split up, noted Cobb.
‘Les’s brother in sales bought a trailer place in Denver, Colorado,? he said. ‘I could have gone with him, but I had become established here and didn’t want to move.?
Cobb said sales ‘dropped way off? and Hutchinson called him into the office one day asking if he wanted to go into manufacturing as general manager.
‘I said ‘well, I better take some time to think about that.? He said ‘take 30 days,?? said Cobb. ‘In that 30 days he had a heart attack and died, that was the end of that.?
The business didn’t quite go bankrupt, but near it he said. Cobb was offered another job by Carl Strand, who designed the ‘Quonset hut.?
‘When you hire out for Carl Strand you hire out for 24 hours a day, seven days a week,? said Cobb. ‘He called me night and day, whenever he wanted me.?
Strand ended up selling his patent to Global Steel Inc., he noted.
‘He got rich off of it. Like all the rich people, they’ve got to get a little richer,? said Cobb. ‘He got into this and that, bought a lot of big real estates and he went broke, the story of my life.?
After Strand went broke, Cobb took a job as the Independence Township building inspector. When Glen Miller quit, he became the township assessor too.
‘Jim Sherman (senior) used to come over and ask me questions,? he said.
Cobb also worked on the election board for every election when there was one precinct downtown.
‘Every supervisor came in to get a free meal,? he said.
‘It was interesting; I met a lot of the old guys that way.?
After working for the township for 10 years, Cobb went back to building.
‘I did mostly remodeling, jobs I could handle myself. I didn’t have much of a crew,? he noted.
In 2005, he quit working and started taking chemotherapy, due to cancer, and is now cancer free. His wife, Mae, passed away in 2006. They have five children, Betty, 63, lives in Troy, Bob, 61, lives in Arizona, Jerry, 59, lives in Jackson, Janet, 56, lives in Metamora, and Mary Joe, 53, lives in Goodrich. Cobb, along with his sister Martha, 94, are the only two surviving siblings of his family.
Nowadays, Cobb said he enjoys sitting and visiting with his kids when they come to visit.
‘Of course, my biggest hobby is going to the doctor and the dentist,? he said.
He also watches sports, whatever is on.
‘The Pistons, some days I like ’em, some days I am disgusted with ’em,? said Cobb. ‘I think the Red Wings are a championship team, and the Tigers I would say fell flat on their face.?
Cobb finally received his honorary high school diploma in 2006, after his daughter Betty wrote a letter explaining his service to the country and the things her dad accomplished.