DELMAR A. COBBLE

Delmar A. Cobble, a long-time educator and former deputy commissioner for the Missouri Department of Education, died Sunday at his home at Chateau Girardeau. He was 81.

Cobble was a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Missouri-Columbia, and after teaching in Cape Girardeau and Bollinger county schools, had a distinguished 11-year career with the Missouri Department of Education. After his retirement, he served 10 years on the state Board of Education, including two terms as president.

Prior to his work with the state, Cobble also was superintendent of schools in Patton, Lutesville and Caruthersville.

In 1959, the Missouri Board of Education appointed him area supervisor of instruction for the Southeast Missouri district. Two years later, he moved to Jefferson City, where he held the following positions within the Department of Education: Director of School Laws, 1961-63; Assistant Commissioner of Administration, 1963-66; and Deputy Commissioner of Education, 1966-72.

After he retired from the Department of Education, he spent two years as an adviser to the state board and taught graduate courses in school finances at Southeast. He also served on several state and national education committees. In 1976, Governor Joseph Teasdale appointed him to the State Board of Education.

Cobble received many honors and awards during his career in education, including the Alumni Merit Award from Southeast Missouri State; the Citation of Merit Award from the University of Missouri-Columbia; the Meritorious Service Award from the Southeast Missouri Teachers Association; the Award of Merit from the Missouri Association of School Administrators; and the Outstanding Educator Award from the Jackson Community Teachers Association.

In 1982, the Delmar A. Cobble State School in Columbia was named in his honor. Also that year, Cobble was named a "Pioneer in Education" for his long contribution to education in Missouri.

He was born May 28, 1911, near Daisy, the son of Walter Ray and Mary Ann Seabaugh Cobble who were descendants of some of Bollinger County's first settlers. On July 1, 1930, he married Allene Foster, who preceded him in death in February 1984.

Survivors include two sisters, Margaret Tunnell of Cape Girardeau and Renee Jones of Hammond, Ind. He also was preceded in death by a brother.

He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Jackson, the Rotary International Club, the Southeast Missouri Hospital Board of Trustees and the hospital's Foundation Board, Phi Delta Kappa honorary society, and the Jackson Garden Club.

He also served this year as president of the Executive Club of Cape Girardeau. In past years, he served as alumni president at Southeast, a trustee of the Public School Retirement System and as the director of the Central States Area for the National Association of State School Boards. He also belonged to the Missouri and American Association of School Administrators and various other professional organizations.

He was a veteran of World War II, where he served as an officer in the Army Field Artillery and as an Army Education Officer. He received a Purple Heart.

Friends may call from 4-8 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel in Cape Girardeau, where funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday. The Rev. Rodney Travis and Ed Brasington will officiate, and burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery in Cape Girardeau.