Willard E. Cobb
Willard E. Cobb came to Rockwell City in 1928 as an instructor in commercial and social science following his graduation from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. Cobb became principal of Rockwell City high school and the head baseball coach in 1933.
Cobb was known to his many friends and students as “Cobbie”. He was a very popular young man (36 years old) and was beginning his sixth year as principal of the local high school. He earned his masters degree at Drake University after winning the state baseball championship in 1942. He had two goals in 1942- to win a state baseball championshp and get his masters degree from Drake University. He accomplished both goals.
Cobbie receiving his master’s degree in August of 1942. He passed away in November.
Helen Cobb
Coach Willard Cobb and Helen were married in Eldora, Iowa, August 14, 1930. Willard was a teacher in Rockwell City at this time, so they established a home in Rockwell City. The couple had one child, Helen Lavaine, September 11, 1931. Helen Lavaine was called by her middle name, Lavaine. After Willard’s death in 1942, Helen moved to nearby Fort Dodge, Iowa, and took a job to support herself and Lavaine. Helen and Lavaine later moved to Des Moines, Iowa.
Helen Lavaine Cobb Ridenbaugh
Lavaine was the daughter of Willard and Helen Cobb. She was 10 years old when her dad passed away from cancer in the fall of 1942. Lavaine credited her dad for teaching her honesty, respect, and care for others. After her dad’s death in 1942, she moved with her mom to Fort Dodge, Iowa. They later moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where Lavaine attended North High, where she was a star tennis player. After graduation, she had several secretarial jobs. She met her husband Lee when she was a secretary at the Armed Forces Examining Station. Lee was in the Marine Corp at the time. They were married November 13th, 1954, after his discharge from the Marine Corp. They moved to Newark, Ohio, where they raised their seven children.
The Cobb family
Dean Corson
Dean Corson was a senior in high school in 1942 when small town Rockwell City won the state baseball championship. Dean had also pitched as a freshman in the state tournament in 1939, with Rockwell City taking fourth place. In 1942 Dean’s pitching record was 14-0 leading up to the state tournament. He pitched all three games in the 1942 tournament and pitched a shutout in the title game. He also pitched a no hitter four days before the state tournament to get Rockwell City into the state tournament. His feat, though celebrated at the time, took a back burner to WW II. Sixty years later, and a generation removed, Mick McCarville uncovered the “iron man” story and mounted a campaign to get Dean into the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches’ Association Hall of Fame. Dean was inducted in 2004.
After high school graduation Dean entered college at Upper Iowa University where he played football one semester before enlisting in the U. S. Army. He served in the European Theater under General George Patton. After the war, he returned to Iowa. A tryout with the St. Louis Cardnials came. He turned the offer down and returned to college to get his degree. After college, he was hired by Garst and Thomas Hybrid Seed Corn Co., and he pitched for the Coon Rapids Merchants at night. Dean and his wife Virginia retired to Bella Vista, Arkansas in 1992. Dean passed away Ocotber 14, 2013.
H.G. (Glenn) Miller
H.G., referred to as Glenn, was the father of Charles and John. Glenn had served in France during WWI. Then in 1942, at the age of 47, he joined WW II, enlisting in the Navy. Before Glenn joined up a second time, he was a barber in Rockwell City
Glenn enlisted as a barber, seamen first class. He was assigned to the Armed Guard, guns and gunners, and served on “merchant/non-Navy” ships. His first ship was the SS Huumula, a small transport ship that operated between the Hawaiian Islands. He then went to the Army transport USAT Sea Cat. The Sea Cat was all over the Pacific during WWII. After WWII, Glen returned to Rockwell City to resume barbering. Both of Glen’s sons joined the Military. Charles joined the Navy Air Corp in 1942, and John joined the Navy in 1943.
Charles Miller and his dog Old Joe
Charles Miller with Babe Ruth
Charles Miller and Babe Ruth ball
Charles Miller
Charles played baseball for Rockwell City under Coach Willard Cobb. Charles was a junior when the team went to state in 1939. The team got 4th in the state tournament. John Miller, two years younger than Charles, also played on the 1939 team. After high school, Charles enrolled in college at Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa, where he played football for one year. The next year Parson’s football coach Forrest Marquis took a coaching job at Fort Dodge Junior College. Miller transferred with him to Fort Dodge to play football. Miller took a job with the FBI, following his years in college. That job ended when Charles told his family he was enlisting in the Navy Air Corps because he wanted to be a pilot.
After enlisting, Charles was sent to US Navy Pre-Flight School at the University of Georgia in Athens. Following pre-flight school, Miller was then sent to Pensacola, Florida, as a First Lieutenant for Flight Training. Then Charles was sent to California and trained to fly the Douglas SBD Dauntless, a naval scout plane and dive bomber. Charles was married in California to his fiancée Rae Powell of Rockwell City. Not long after, and just learning he was going to be a father, he shipped out with his squadron to the New Hebrides Islands (now Vanuatu). Charles led a squadron ferrying planes to another island. His plane along with one other plane went missing. Both had flown into a powerful Pacific storm. The wreckage was never found. Charles was 22 years old. Charles’ son, Bob Miller was born shortly following Charles’ death. A headstone with Charles Miller’s name was placed in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific near Punchbowl Crater in Honolulu. His sister Beverly and son Bob have both visited his headstone.
Charles and John Miller
John Miller
John Miller played second base when Rockwell City won the Iowa state baseball tournament in 1942. He was the best hitter on the team in 1942 and had the highest batting average. After high school, John enlisted in the Navy in May of 1943. He completed basic training at Farragut, Idaho. Then he attended Navy electrician’s school at the University of Minnesota. In December 1943 he went to San Francisco, California. John was assigned to the USS Palmer, a destroyer/minesweeper. The USS Palmer became part of the fleet assigned to several island invasions. The USS Palmer cleared paths through enemy mine fields. On January 7, 1945, the ship entered Lingayen Gulf on the coast of Luzon Island. The USS Palmer sailed ahead of the fleet to clear the path of mines. As the crew started minesweeping operations, Japanese planes attacked and dropped two bombs. The ship was quickly engulfed in flames. The captain gave word to abandon ship. John jumped into the ocean and swam to a life raft that had been thrown overboard. The ship sank in six minutes. The surviving sailors were picked up several hours later by another destroyer/minesweeper. Two were killed, 38 were wounded, and 26 sailors were missing in action. John Miller was not injured and returned to San Francisco February 1, 1945. He was not called back to sea, and he spent the rest of the war working in a Navy repair base in San Diego, California. John returned to civilian life and attended two years of college at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. He then started a career in marketing and sales and lived in Mason City, Iowa. Ironically Mason City was one of the teams Rockwell City beat in the 1942 state baseball tournament.
Al Peters in front of his business
Al Peters
Al Peters owned a shoe shine and dry cleaning shop on the north side of the square in Rockwell City. He came to town in 1914 at the age of 27, bringing along his father, a former slave with whipping scars on his back. He was given lifetime membership in the Rockwell City Chamber of Commerce and was also a member of the Lions Club. His family which included his father, his wife, and one son, was the only black family in Rockwell City. He died at the age of 92. Attendance at his funeral in 1972 necessitated it be held in the high school gymnasium. A favorite quotation Al cited often was the following, “The thing that goes the farthest towards making things worthwhile, it costs the least and does the most is just a pleasant smile.”