Noel Thomas Cumbaa

October 9, 1916 – March 7, 2013

GREENVILLE ― Noel Cumbaa, 96, of Greenville, former commander of the Greenville Air Force Base and World War II veteran, died this morning at the former King's Daughter Hospital, Greenville.

Cumbaa served as colonel on a B-17 bomber flight in England during World War II. He also served as an operations officer in the 95th Bomb Group "Heavy," coordinating bombing raids in Germany.

He moved to Greenville in 1951 to help revitalize the air force base, which had closed in 1945. There, he helped prepare pilots for the Korean Conflict.

Cumbaa went on to work at the Bank of Leland and later served as trust officer at Greenville Bank.

At one point in Cumbaa's bachelorhood, he owned a yellow Buick convertible, and he was known to have joked that if he couldn't get a wife with that car, he would give up, a family friend and former banker John Black recalled.

But Cumbaa met Eloise Dean, a Leland native, and the two were married. They were married 61 years, she said.

"I'm very fortunate I had him that long," she said. "He always looked after me. We had a good life. … He was a wonderful man and lived a very full life in the Air Force and civilian life."

In addition to his wife, he is survived by three children and six grandchildren.

Cumbaa is remembered by the Greenville community for his contributions to help revitalize the Greenville Air Force Base but also for the type of man he was.

Black said the two met as members of the Rotary Club of Greenville, and the two grew close after Black wrote an article on Cumbaa for the Delta Democrat Times magazine, he said.

Black said Cumbaa had a great sense of humor and was humble.

"He was a fine fellow who flew 19 missions and lived to tell about it," Black said.

Steve Sweet, commander of American Legion Post 32, said he got to know Cumbaa by attending American Legion events and Veterans Day activities in the area.

"He always had a smile on his face," Sweet said. "He was a man's man. He did what he had to do while he was in the service."

Sweet said Cumbaa had a huge impact on Greenville as the air force base commander.

"I imagine he had a lot to do with how things were going here," Sweet said.

Paul Watson, Washington County Board of Supervisor president, said he also has fond memories of Cumbaa. Watson said he's known Cumbaa since the early 1960s when the two went to church together and were pilots.

"We were just good friends," Watson said. "He was just a gentleman, and that's all there really is to say."

Delta Democrat Times (Greenville, MS) - Thursday, March 7, 2013