Funeral service for Alan Maurice Combs will be 10:00 a.m. Monday, August 21, 2023, in the Becker- Rabon Funeral Home Chapel with Paulatta Tompkins, Daughter, Lawton, Oklahoma officiating.

Burial will follow in Sunset Memorial Gardens, Lawton, Oklahoma.

Alan Combs, 72, was born October 20, 1950 in Springfield, Illinois to Leon C. Combs, Sr., and Sylvia (Williams) Combs.  Alan, who preferred to be called Al went home to Heaven on August 11, 2023 at his home in Lawton.

Al served in the Navy for five years and then joined the Marines where he served for four years followed by two years as a Reservist.  Al traveled around the world with the Navy and fought in the Vietnam War as a Marine.  He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Combat Action Medal, Good Conduct Medal, and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.  Al worked as a carpenter with his dad for two years after being released from military service.  Al's brother, Leon Jr., once said there was no better cabinet maker than his brother Al. In later years, Al served as caregiver to his father who suffered from Alzheimer's.

Al became friends with his next-door neighbor, Gabrielle (Gay) Ford and they were soon married on December 25, 1991 becoming a part of her large family. For many years, Al and Gay travelled extensively in their red van with the CB antennae on top. They travelled to Branson, Corpus Christi, and many other places, and visited Gay's family in Tennessee. They bought a home near Fort Cobb Lake and set up residence in Fly Inn, Oklahoma.  Al and Gay enjoyed playing dominoes with their lake neighbors and joined the Fly Inn Volunteer Fire Department.  Al loved fishing and watching the local wildlife around their home by the lake and he and Gay loved hosting family gatherings by the lake.

Al loved dancing with Gay and was an expert at polishing her brass animal collection.  He loved talking with the grandchildren and sharing his stash of cookies with the kids. After Al and Gay moved back to Lawton to be closer to family, they bought a home with a giant pecan tree and battled with the local squirrels for ownership of Gay's collection of potted plants. Al loved watching movies on his computer and eating Cheetos in bed. Al loved to tell jokes, but he was also known to be very strong-willed once he made up his mind.

Al is survived by his nephew, Jayson Combs and various other Combs family nieces and nephews, and his extended family of Gay's children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild and all their spouses.