MCCOMBS FAMILY HISTORY Mr. Alex McCombs was born in Hume Township on June 15, 1882 and passed away in California on Jan. 30, 1973. He was married to Rifia Morse and they had 6 children: Louella (Mrs. Harold Carlson), Nora (Mrs. Ransom Egert), Lyla (Mrs. William Barta), Minnie (Mrs. Ernest Williams), Ethel (Mrs. Paul Swanson) and LeRoy. He had 13 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great-grandchildren. Mr. McCombs was a carpenter by trade and built many buildings around this territory. He spent much of the time with his daughter, Mrs. Ransom Egert, and while here during the Spring of 1972 he wrote down all the barns, houses, cribs and other buildings which he had built. Whenever the family would go for a ride, almost every farm place around the country would have some building on it which he had built. When Mr. McCombs was 75, he worked with others at Rock River Christian Camp in putting up the new buildings there. When the time came that he could no longer work on the large buildings, he started making buildings on a smaller scale. When he was 87, he entered a float in the Tampico Homecoming parade and won first prize. The next year, when he was 88, he entered another float, "Still Building Straight at 88," and won another prize. He was so proud to be doing something that he loved to do. He worked on the Tampico Church of Christ when it was first built, along with his father, and when the new addition was built, he helped to build it also. Mr. McCombs also had another hobby which few knew about. He loved to play the piano. Open house was held for him when he was 90 years old at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Egert. Among the many messages of congratulations he received was a letter from Ronald Reagan. He was looking forward to meeting Mr. Reagan during the Centennial, and he had also built several things for the 100th year celebration. He was not privileged to live that long, but he always had many fond memories of his home town.

Photo: Parade Float