Kenneth Combs age 86, Loving husband to Colleen Combs passed away peacefully on January 28, 2017. He leaves to mourn his passing two children; Crystal Combs (Christopher) White and Kenneth A. (Cheryle) Combs; two grandchildren; one great-granddaughter and a host of other relatives and friends.

Like the descendants of Simon and Janie, Kenneth is both Cornett and Combs. Kenneth was born in Cincinnati to Burnaham Combs (Brother of Simon Combs) and Ethel Cornett Combs in Cincinnati in 1930, the youngest of three boys. Despite losing both of his parents during the depression in early childhood, he would never define his childhood origins as tragic. Instead it has provided the basis of his profound love of family and the roots that sustain them. It is the love, support and guidance of his grandmother and extended family that has shaped him and nurtured his love for family. In Hazard, a child did not grow up in only in a single home…the child grew up in the village.

Honoring family tradition, he attended Kentucky State College. In 1953, he graduated Magna Cum Laude, with departmental honors and as a member of Omega Psi Phi…another Combs tradition. Settling in Cleveland, after graduation, Kenneth taught for ten years in one of the toughest schools in Cleveland. Changing careers in 1966, he became one of the first licensed Packaging Engineers in the United States. As a Mechanical Engineer at General Electric, he is the inventor of three patents. He has traveled all over the United States, Japan and Mexico to improve the production, safety and design of manufacturing packaging for General Electric.

Kenneth is a deacon at Antioch Baptist Church. He actively serves in the prison ministry and provides financial assistance to community members thru a deacon’s charity and the Antioch Credit Union. Kenneth and his wife Collene, also a native of Kentucky have been married for 56 years. They have two children, Kenneth and Crystal, two grandchildren, Lauren and Troy, and a great-grand daughter Ananda.

Kenneth’s research of family history began without the help of the internet. He traveled to Hazard to research property records, he accessed census records thru the Case Western Reserve Historical Society, he documented family recollections thru interviews and photograph and he has preserved that rich history of family by sharing it with all of us. His ability to document and recount this legacy was officially recognized by Smithsonian Institute and the Cleveland Museum of Art, when a wool quilt created by our ancestor Eliza Francis Hogg Combs was authenticated as an original work of art by a former slave. The story of the Combs Family quilt, preserved by Kenneth is a symbol of our uniqueness as an African-American family that has honored its legacy thru unity and education. Thank you Kenneth for insuring that our roots have a firm foundation of love!

Public visitation on Thursday, February 2nd at E. F. Boyd & Son, Inc. 25900 Emery Road. Private Family funeral services at Town Mountain Church in Hazard, KY on Saturday, February 4th. Memorial services on Friday, February 10th at 11:30 am at Antioch Baptist Church 8869 Cedar Avenue. Wake will begin at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Antioch Baptist Church Prison Ministry.