| ||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
Today is 25th anniversary of Gov. Bert Combs drowning death Kentucky's 50th Governor one of Kentucky's greatest. During his tenure, December 8, 1959-December 10, 1963, he was a champion of public schools. He also established Kentucky's superb state community college system, increased highway funding, improved State Parks significantly, and established Kentucky's First Human Rights Commission Click on headline for completed story Story From National Weather Service On December 3, 1991, after calling his wife to let her know he would be late coming home, Combs left his Lexington law office about 5:30 pm. After several hours passed he was reported missing. Law enforcement and hundreds of local people searched for the former governor. The following day his partially submerged car was spotted in the swollen Red River near Rosslyn in Powell County just several hundred feet from the parkway that bore his name. Temperatures had been in the 30s when Combs drove into the floodwaters. The rain that had been falling changed to snow overnight as the mercury fell into the 20s. Combs' body was found the next day, about a quarter mile downstream of his car, still clinging to a tree root on the edge of the stream. He was not wearing his coat or shoes, possibly from trying to swim to safety. He was 80 years old, and is buried in Beech Creek Cemetery in Manchester. Bertram Thomas Combs' biographical information Bertram Thomas Combs was born August 13, 1911 in Manchester, Kentucky. One of seven kids, he was very intelligent and skipped grades to graduate from high school as valedictorian at the age of 15. In the early 1930s he worked for the state highway department where he earned enough money to go to the University of Kentucky's College of Law. He graduated 2nd in his class in 1937 and was admitted to the bar. He briefly returned to Clay County to practice law before moving to a law firm in Prestonburg in 1938. In World War II he was sent to the Philippines where, as a lieutenant, he was chief of the War Crimes Investigation Department. At the end of the conflict he was awarded a Bronze Star for apprehending and prosecuting Japanese war criminals. He then returned to practicing law in Prestonburg. His first political position was as City Attorney for Prestonburg in 1950. The following year he won a spot on the Kentucky Court of Appeals. In 1955 Combs was selected to run for governor against A.B. "Happy" Chandler. Combs' inexperience, uninspiring oratory, and suggestion to raise taxes were significant factors in his defeat. He returned to practicing law in Prestonburg. Four years later Combs ran again for governor, this time winning by a landslide. He was Kentucky's 50th governor, the first governor from eastern Kentucky in over 30 years, and the Commonwealth's first governor who was a World War II veteran. While governor, he:
This story was posted on 2016-12-03 04:07:46
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. (AD) - Many Reunion organizing efforts are also advertised in our REUNIONS category in our CM Classifeds. These are posted at a very low cost. See RATES & TERMS More articles from topic Local History:
Yes, Self Culture Club lived on. . . as Columbia Woman's Club The old blue-dye pot: domestic arts, Esto style, c. 1850 Mike Watson's thoughts on the D. Boon trees' authenticity V. Kolbenschlag: Other D. Boon tree said from Todd's Cave area Letter: More on the Daniel Boone Tree Thoughts on the Highway 704 Daniel Boone tree Chris Bennett has questions about the D Boone carvings Debbie Peppers adds basketball players for ACHS Class of 1971 ACHS Class of 1971 45th Reunion at Red Barn a big success Green Co. Genealogical Society Book Fair - 5 Nov 2016 View even more articles in topic Local History |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
