Tyrus William Cobb, PhD, Col. U.S. Army (ret.)

Reno - Ty Cobb, a Reno native and fourth generation Nevadan, passed away peacefully at age 84 on Saturday December 7, 2024. Ty's father Tyrus Richard Cobb was a newsman originally from Virginia City and his mother Olga Glusovich was an orphan from Tonopah, NV. Ty graduated from Reno High School in 1958 and the University of Nevada in 1962. He attained a Masters degree from Indiana University and a PhD from Georgetown University in Soviet Studies. Ty was president of the Sigma Nu fraternity at Nevada and also unofficial head of the "Vagabond Touring Association"- a group of Reno friends who purchased a decommissioned school bus and used it for travel and Hijinx.

In 1965, he married his college sweetheart, Suellen Small, in Venice, Italy, where he was stationed with the US Army and the two toured Europe in a MGB convertible. They returned to Europe multiple times in the 27 moves they experienced in their life together-mainly due to Ty's 26 year military career. The family at one point spent a summer in the former Soviet Union in an exchange program with the communist regime.

Ty served two combat tours in Vietnam, earning medals including the Purple Heart, and rose to the rank of Colonel over the course of his Army career. During his second tour in Vietnam he was part of the contingent tasked with flying into Hanoi to retrieve the remainder of the American POWs as part of the Paris Peace Treaty implementation. Ty was on the flight returning the last US soldiers from Vietnam where he waited in the rear of the plane for all other military personnel to deboard. As he exited, he whispered to himself, "I am the last soldier to return from Vietnam."

Ty was a tenured professor at West Point teaching Soviet Studies, when he was requested to serve at the White House as a Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan for National Security Affairs. Ty was fluent in Russian and was tasked to be the Executive Secretary for President Reagan's summits with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva (1985) and Reykjavik (1986). Ty was incredibly proud of his service to President Reagan and spoke fondly of the Commander in Chief for the remainder of his years, as described in his book Reagan and the Russians (available on Amazon).

After his life of government service, Ty was President of the Business Executives for National Security think tank in Washington and later Yosemite National Institutes in San Francisco. He and Suellen returned to their hometown of Reno in 2002 where Ty established the Nevada National Security Forum and was CEO of the Northern Nevada Network. He was appointed to be the Nevada Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army (CASA) in 2005 and in 2017 he was the recipient of the University of Nevada's "Distinguished Nevadan" honor, just as his father had received before him.

University of Nevada President (and former Governor) Brian Sandoval stated, "Ty was a remarkable and influential Nevadan whose professional life intersected with a time of great change in our world." Former Nevada Governor and US Senator Dick Bryan said, "Ty had a truly remarkable career and was a great public servant and a wonderful Nevadan."

Ty is survived by his wife Suellen, children Jani Sue Beyer (Mark), Jacquelline Fuller (John) and Tyrus Obren; five grandchildren: Lauren, Hosanna, Sophie, Kevin, and Lizzie; his sister Patricia and his brother William (Cathleen), and numerous nieces and nephews. His final years were spent with the family and friends whom he loved and who loved him in return. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for his remarkable life of service, and even though he will be missed by all who knew him, he now may enjoy the rest that he so rightfully deserves.

Memorial donations may be made to the University of Nevada, Reno Foundation for the Tyrus W. Cobb International Affairs Scholarship Endowment #175832, Mail Stop 0162, Reno, NV 89557 or online at www.unr.edu/giving. A Celebration of Life will be held in Reno in January.