Robert Edward Coleberd

1932 - 2018

July 6, 1932 - December 5,2018 Robert Edward Coleberd, 86, passed into eternal life on December 5, 2018 with his beloved wife Barbara at his side, after a brief illness. Robert was born in Kansas City, MO on July 6, 1932 to Robert Edward Coleberd, Sr. and Margaret Cameron Coleberd. He graduated from William Jewell College with a degree in economics. Immediately after graduation he volunteered to be drafted into the US Army. This was during the Korean War and after training at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro and the Torrance Municipal Airport he was sent to Korea and served the remainder of his service time there. After being discharged he studied at Cornell University where he earned an MBA. A few years later he enrolled at University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana where he received an MA and a PhD in economics. He began his years of college teaching at Bridgewater College in Virginia. He also taught at Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College). He worked a few years for the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. While there he attended Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, MD where he met his future wife, Barbara. He returned to college teaching at Longwood College in Farmville,VA, and after their marriage in 1971 they moved to Farmville. After 6 years during which he was promoted to department head and had tenure, he decided to leave academe and moved to Houston, TX to work in the petroleum industry. In 1979 he had an opportunity to move to California and work for Tosco (The Oil Shale Corporation). After Tosco's major reorganization four years later, he and a fellow colleague formed a partnership to start their own business, Pacific West Oil Data. This company prepared and published a monthly data book of tables and graphs of statistics and other information on the West Coast petroleum industry. PacWest, as it became known, had subscribers not only in the U.S. but also all over the Asia Pacific basin and Robert made trips to Singapore, Hong Kong and Jakarta to promote the publication. After his partner retired, his wife helped out with the preparation and production of the data book until he sold the business and retired in 2000. During all this time Robert was closely associated with the Mark Twain Cave tourist business in Hannibal, Missouri. This cave was made famous in the writings of Mark Twain and was especially noted in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". His grandfather had purchased the cave in 1923 and over the years and through the generations Robert and his brother Jim became the most recent owners. When he became Chairman of the Board he and Barbara came often to the place where he (and his brother) took the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad many summers to guide the cave for their uncle. All his life Robert was very interested in pipe organs, sparked by his brother's becoming a church organist at the age of 12. Robert was not a musician, but wanted to understand how the instruments worked and how they were made. He visited many factories of organ builders both in the U.S. and on vacation trips to Europe. For several years he was an economic consultant to APOBA, the Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America. He also served on the board of directors of the Reuter Organ Company of Lawrence, Kansas. He enjoyed writing articles about the history of various builders, mainly in the Midwest, and published many of them in "The Diapason" and "The Tracker". He built two organs himself, one of which he kept in his home in Granada Hills for many years. Recently he was very pleased to be able, with the help of Manuel Rosales, to donate his organ to St. Paul's First Lutheran Church in North Hollywood, CA. It was very satisfying to him to know that his instrument is now in a church and being used regularly for contributing to God's worship. Robert enjoyed woodworking and had an extensive workshop at home where he had many projects including bottle stoppers, bowls and trays. He was a member of the Glendale Woodturners Guild. Most recently he became interested in making kaleidoscopes. He belonged to the Brewster Kaleidoscope Society and made many kaleidoscopes with beautiful wooden barrels, which he enjoyed giving to friends and family. He wrote articles for the quarterly newsletter of the Brewster Society and went to many of their conventions and kept in touch with many friends in the membership. He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Barbara, and their beagle dog Samie; by his sister-in-law Linda Coleberd of Hannibal, MO, his brother-in-law Stuart Kennedy of Edgerton, WI and many nieces and nephews. Memorial services at First Presbyterian Church of Granada Hills are pending and will be held after New Years. Please sign the guestbook at legacy.com/obituaries/ladailynews.