Life and Family
Parents
One such hero was Sergeant William Edward Kolb of Montgomery County, Mississippi. His life began on July 11, 1920 at Stewart, Mississippi. William Edward Kolb was born to William Serenus Kolb and Clevie May Foster Kolb.
William Serenus Kolb, or W.S. was born on March 28th, 1883 in Webster County, Mississippi. He grew up near and in Eupora, became literate, and in 1908, W.S. married Clevie May Foster. At some point in his life, he had lost an eye; this prevented him from fighting in WWI after he registered for the draft in 1918. His first listed job was in agriculture, but according to his daughter, he later owned at least two different stores in Eupora at different times. He and his new family lived from Eupora, Mississippi in 1920 to Mayfield, Mississippi in 1930.
Clevie Foster was born on October 4th, 1884 and, like her future husband, lived around the Eupora, Mississippi area and learned to read and write growing up. She married W.S. who at the time was named Lurence Kolb. Clevie had Oris Foster Kolb on April 6th, 1913; Tragically, her second son was stillborn October 28th, 1917; Clevie then gave birth to William Edward Kolb on July 11th, 1920. She worked as a homemaker like most wives at this time. On May 7th, 1936, she died from complications due to her severe asthma and less than a year later January 7th, 1938, W.S. married Margaret Elizabeth Daves.
Siblings
Oris Foster Kolb was the older brother of Edward. October 16th, 1940 was the day he registered for the draft at DC; according to his registration sheet, he was 170 pounds in weight, 5’11 inches in weight, and had brown eyes with black hair. He enlisted May 22nd,1941 in Richmond, Virginia. Although quite different in appearance than his younger brother, his heart was just as strong; Oris was very literate, had two years of college education, and spent the majority of his career with the government. He was in the Civil Service Commission, State Department, and was a foreign service officer with the embassy. Oris achieved the rank of Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army before his retirement. Having lived a life full of adventure, Oris passed away at age 78, on July 17th, 1991.
On January 7th, 1938, Margaret gave birth to Audrey Kolb (Now Audrey Spradley). She was Edward's "pride and joy”, and he was her "idol and (her) hero," as she put it. She followed Edward everywhere she could when she was a toddler and ran into town to meet her "Ebby" once when he came home for furlough during the war. Edward died when she was young. She grew older, went through high school, and married James Yates. They two children, Shawn and Jan Yates. James died and Audrey remarried to a Spradley in 2004. As of September 2020, Audrey is alive and well living in Laurel, Mississippi.
One such hero was Sergeant William Edward Kolb of Montgomery County, Mississippi. His life began on July 11, 1920 at Stewart, Mississippi. William Edward Kolb was born to William Serenus Kolb and Clevie May Foster Kolb.
William Serenus Kolb, or W.S. was born on March 28th, 1883 in Webster County, Mississippi. He grew up near and in Eupora, became literate, and in 1908, W.S. married Clevie May Foster. At some point in his life, he had lost an eye; this prevented him from fighting in WWI after he registered for the draft in 1918. His first listed job was in agriculture, but according to his daughter, he later owned at least two different stores in Eupora at different times. He and his new family lived from Eupora, Mississippi in 1920 to Mayfield, Mississippi in 1930.
Clevie Foster was born on October 4th, 1884 and, like her future husband, lived around the Eupora, Mississippi area and learned to read and write growing up. She married W.S. who at the time was named Lurence Kolb. Clevie had Oris Foster Kolb on April 6th, 1913; Tragically, her second son was stillborn October 28th, 1917; Clevie then gave birth to William Edward Kolb on July 11th, 1920. She worked as a homemaker like most wives at this time. On May 7th, 1936, she died from complications due to her severe asthma and less than a year later January 7th, 1938, W.S. married Margaret Elizabeth Daves.
Siblings
Oris Foster Kolb was the older brother of Edward. October 16th, 1940 was the day he registered for the draft at DC; according to his registration sheet, he was 170 pounds in weight, 5’11 inches in weight, and had brown eyes with black hair. He enlisted May 22nd,1941 in Richmond, Virginia. Although quite different in appearance than his younger brother, his heart was just as strong; Oris was very literate, had two years of college education, and spent the majority of his career with the government. He was in the Civil Service Commission, State Department, and was a foreign service officer with the embassy. Oris achieved the rank of Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army before his retirement. Having lived a life full of adventure, Oris passed away at age 78, on July 17th, 1991.
On January 7th, 1938, Margaret gave birth to Audrey Kolb (Now Audrey Spradley). She was Edward's "pride and joy”, and he was her "idol and (her) hero," as she put it. She followed Edward everywhere she could when she was a toddler and ran into town to meet her "Ebby" once when he came home for furlough during the war. Edward died when she was young. She grew older, went through high school, and married James Yates. They two children, Shawn and Jan Yates. James died and Audrey remarried to a Spradley in 2004. As of September 2020, Audrey is alive and well living in Laurel, Mississippi.
Life and likeness
Edward was 5 feet 9 inches tall, 119 pounds in weight at the time of enlistment, fair, and had blue eyes with brown hair. He had a scar on his chin and by the time of he reached the rank of Sergeant, he was 5’ 11.5” and 147 lbs.[1]
Edward attended college for two years and was highly literate. Kolb was a kind, loving person, as noted by his sister. When his sister was an infant, Edward would hold her in church. He carried candy in his pocket so that if he could pacify her if she began to cry. If she was too fidgety, Edward would take her out of the church to prevent their father from giving her a 'spanking'.
College
Before his enlistment, Edward attended Sunflower Junior College at Moorhead with his best friend ‘Coot’ Jacks. He was seeing a girl he met at college-Grace Webber. He visited her on his last furlough home before his death. She would later marry, have five children, and have her life cut short due to cancer. During his enrollment, Edward became friends with two gentlemen from Guatemala. He would allow these friends home with him on holidays as it was too far for them to go home. He took a course which taught him how to operate a small aircraft. Once, he arranged with the instructor to fly over Stewart so his family and friends could see him.
Other hobbies of his included whittling, playing baseball, squirrel hunting, guitar playing, and photography. He was nicknamed Ty Kolb after Ty Cobb, a famous baseball player at the time. Edward would sit on the porch carve custom frames for photographs he took. Another porch-activity he enjoyed was playing his guitar with friends. His father would often join in and play his fiddle.
Edward was 5 feet 9 inches tall, 119 pounds in weight at the time of enlistment, fair, and had blue eyes with brown hair. He had a scar on his chin and by the time of he reached the rank of Sergeant, he was 5’ 11.5” and 147 lbs.[1]
Edward attended college for two years and was highly literate. Kolb was a kind, loving person, as noted by his sister. When his sister was an infant, Edward would hold her in church. He carried candy in his pocket so that if he could pacify her if she began to cry. If she was too fidgety, Edward would take her out of the church to prevent their father from giving her a 'spanking'.
College
Before his enlistment, Edward attended Sunflower Junior College at Moorhead with his best friend ‘Coot’ Jacks. He was seeing a girl he met at college-Grace Webber. He visited her on his last furlough home before his death. She would later marry, have five children, and have her life cut short due to cancer. During his enrollment, Edward became friends with two gentlemen from Guatemala. He would allow these friends home with him on holidays as it was too far for them to go home. He took a course which taught him how to operate a small aircraft. Once, he arranged with the instructor to fly over Stewart so his family and friends could see him.
Other hobbies of his included whittling, playing baseball, squirrel hunting, guitar playing, and photography. He was nicknamed Ty Kolb after Ty Cobb, a famous baseball player at the time. Edward would sit on the porch carve custom frames for photographs he took. Another porch-activity he enjoyed was playing his guitar with friends. His father would often join in and play his fiddle.
Edward(left) and his Guatemalan friends Edward with his sword Edward playing the guitar with friends Edward in baseball gear hitchhiking back to school