Frank Joseph "Joe" Cobus

1939 - 2021

Frank Joseph "Joe" Cobus, age 82, passed away on Dec. 10, 2021, after a lengthy battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife Ruby Cobus, his daughters Tamara and Cherie Cobus, and his sisters Rose Taylor and Lois Harmon.

Joe was born in Phoenix, Arizona May 17, 1939, to Frank Joseph Cobus Sr. and Mary Edna Sandall. At 5 years of age, he had a younger sister Rosemarie and his father had left the home. After a cancer diagnosis, His mother moved her young children to Utah where she had older children from a previous marriage. After her passing, Joe (age 15) and his younger sister Rosemarie lived with an older half- brother and his wife.

As a youth, he excelled in sports and played football, basketball, and track and field. In adulthood, he enjoyed tennis and golf and competitive games

On graduating high school his best friend, Roger Gurnie, urged him to join the Air Force "to see the world." However, Roger failed the physical, so Joe went alone and spent the next four years seeing Kansas! He was a guard and a dog handler/trainer. He made many wonderful friends, including Bert Dupont and Ezra Ward, who were also known by Ruby, his future wife

After his military service, Joe served a 2-year church mission in Australia. He loved the land and the people and added many new friends to his life. In later years, he returned with Ruby and they toured Australia and Tasmania visiting with people he knew while serving there.

Back in Utah, after his church mission, Joe attended a business college and earned a degree in financing. He married and had two daughters, Tamara Lynn Cobus and Cherie Dale Cobus. He sold insurance to the military which brought him and his family moving to Germany and later to England. Many pleasant memories came from those years, but also a failed marriage. They moved back to Utah where Joe worked in real estate and tax preparation. Later he moved back to Arizona and worked for Young Electric Sign Company.

In his 50s, he discovered the love of his life in Ruby Bingham. And he also fell in love with the beauty of Alaska. As a memorizer and writer of poetry, he began to recite the poetry of Robert Service, delighting many listeners. His remaining years were good and filled with family, many friends, Alaskan adventures, and a deep unshakeable faith in God.

Funeral Services will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 609 N. Forest Dr., Kenai on Saturday, Dec. 18, at 1:00 pm with a viewing at noon.