Glen Combs

June 3, 1930 - September 20, 2018

Glen Combs 1930 – 2018 Marvin Glen Combs (Glen) was born in 1930 in Sulphur, Oklahoma. He was the oldest of seven children born to Marvin and Magdalene Combs. When he was 12 years old, the family moved to California. In 1948, he enlisted in the Navy and served on the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea as crew chief for one the F4U-4 Corsairs. After the service, he began working at Northrop as an apprentice machinist. He met his life partner, Matilda "Til" Klopfenstein, and they were married in 1951. After the birth of their first child, Marv, in 1952, they bought a little house in Westchester. Their second son, Norm, came along in 1955. Then in 1960, they bought and moved into a new house in Torrance. Glen worked in the manufacturing business in the South Bay area around Los Angeles until he joined with a partner in a machine shop called Rely Tool in 1962. Then in 1965, he started his own shop, Tilco Engineering, named after his wife. His brother Mike worked with him in the early years, and then his son Marv joined Tilco in 1972. Til and Norm, along with Mike and Marv, all worked there at some point. Glen retired in 1991, and Tilco is still going today. Norm married his high school sweetheart, Elaine, in 1976 and moved to Oregon. There Glen and Til were blessed with their first two grandchildren, Kristin and Emily. Now they have seven great-grandchildren, Kristin’s three children, and Emily and John have four. Marv married Linda in 1985, and two more grandsons came along, Chris (Lauren) and Andrew. While living in Torrance, Glen and Til began to travel. They went from Alaska to New Zealand and everywhere in between. Hawaii and Europe were covered also. Glen became a pilot and bought a small single engine Cessna Comanche. He flew that plane all over the country, but he especially enjoyed flying from Torrance Airport to Catalina Island for a quick lunch with a buddy. With all this, Glen never strayed from his favorite activity, handball. He was a member of the San Pedro YMCA for decades and hardly ever missed playing three times a week. Things all changed in 1997, when Glen and Til bought property in Walker Basin to build their dream house. In his 60s, Glen became the owner/contractor and was a hands-on builder for the years it took to make their vision come true. Til’s mother, Edna, (Little Grammie to the family) came to live with Glen and Til while they were still in Torrance when she was 88 years old. Sadly, she passed before the house was complete. Glen and Til moved into the house in 2000 and have entertained, worked, and relaxed together there ever since. Glen turned the ag building into a one-man machine shop where he could continue in the craft that his career started in. Anyone who knew Glen knows that his best description would be outdoorsman. From his early twenties on, he couldn’t get enough of skin diving, hunting, fishing, and exploring. And to do this, he had to become a mechanic that could keep jeeps, outboard motors, and later airplanes running. He absolutely loved the outdoors, and he treasured the friends he met and gathered with during these adventures. Glen loved to be around people. He loved helping people. He was quick to give advice, asked for or not. He needed people. Glen was definitely a unique man. He was loved by so many. Friends made decades ago still connected with him regularly. Everyone knows and remembers him as a “people person,” willing to help wherever he could. Glen is survived by his loving wife, Til; sons, Marv (wife, Linda and grandsons, Chris and Andrew), Norm (wife, Elaine and granddaughters, Kristin and Emily); great-grandchildren, Mae, Jackson, Tessa, Stella, Lucy, Olivia, and Kellen. A viewing will be held at 1:00 p.m. on October 2, 2018, at Wood Family Funeral Service, 321 West F Street, Tehachapi, CA 93561. The funeral service will be at 2:00 p.m., following the viewing. There will be a reception between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. at the Woods Pavilion. Funeral arrangements were made with the assistance of Wood Family Funeral Service. For condolences please visit www.woodmortuary.net.