Robert Dean Elkin

Graveside services with military honors for Robert Dean Elkin, age 71, were held at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, August 26, 2002, in Citizens Cemetery with Rev. Bryan Knowles, Pastor of the Community Fellowship Church, officiating.  Burial was held at Citizens Cemetery under the direction of Robertson Funeral Directors, Inc., of Clarendon.

Mr. Elkin died Friday, August 23, 2002, in Wichita Falls, Texas.  He was born April 4, 1931, in Oskaloosa, Iowa, to Garrett and Mamie Lester Elkin.  His birthdate fell on Easter that year, and his mother told his siblings the Easter Bunny brought him.  He enlisted in the military in December 1949 and was stationed at Lackland AFB in San Antonio with squadron 3731 – flight 4487.  He was later transferred to Reese AFB in Lubbock, where he was an MP.  His squadron, the 514th Air Force Brigade, stood as honor guard for the President who landed at Lubbock in the President’s plane, the famous “Sacred Cow.”  On September 2, 1950, he was married to Pernie Phillips at Lubbock.  They moved to Springfield, Missouri, in 1957, and through the years they owned and operated three furniture and appliance stores, a concession trailer, and an ice cream shop.  In 1995, they moved to Vernon to retire.

He was preceded in death by his parents; five brothers, Kenneth, Lester, Ross, James, and Everett; and by two sisters, Freda and Bessie.

Survivors include his wife, Pernie Elkin of Vernon; one daughter, April Coble of Phoenix, Arizona; two brothers, Leland Elkin of New York, Paul Elkin of Oskaloosa, Iowa; and two grandchildren, Sunshine Coble of Surprise, Arizona, and Summer Coble of Springfield, Missouri.