Kossie Carlyle Akins, age 91, of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., passed away Jan. 31, 2009.
Kossie was born in Bushnell, Fla., on Oct. 14, 1917. His family moved to Lakeland, Fla., when he was 10 years old. He enjoyed playing baseball and was asked to join the Baptist baseball team and began attending First Baptist Church, Lakeland, where as a teenager he met his future wife, Fay Stevens. They were married in 1939 and after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Kossie went into the U.S. Army.
After basic training at Camp Shelby, Miss., and Officer's Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, Va., Akins was stationed with the 529th Combat Engineer Company. This company of 225 enlisted and six officers landed with the D-Day invasion forces on Utah Beach, then built bridges across France and Germany for Gen. George S. Patton's armor. They fought in the Battle of the Bulge and helped liberate Dachau death camp, remaining eye-witnesses of the Holocaust.
Akins' military career also took him to the Philippines and the Korean War, where he served as a military engineer advisor. His 25 years of military service included two other tours in Germany. Kossie retired as a lieutenant colonel from active duty in 1963, when he and his family moved to Fort Walton Beach. Working 18 years for the U.S. Postal Service in Fort Walton Beach, he was also known for his love and knowledge of baseball. For 35 years he held box seats at the Detroit Tigers' Spring Training site in Lakeland.
Kossie was a member and deacon of First Baptist Church of Fort Walton Beach and served on many committees and leadership positions in the church.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Annie Akins; and by seven siblings, and his beloved wife, Fay Stevens Akins. He is survived by his daughter, Darlene Akins of Roswell, Ga., the Rev. Clint Akins of Fort Walton Beach; and granddaughters, Jennifer Akins and Heather Akins of St. Louis, Mo., Kim Akins Mills of Baton Rouge, La.; and step-granddaughter, Nathalie Akins of Fort Walton Beach.
A very heartfelt thanks to his daughter-in-law, Yolande Fanjanirinarivo, for allowing Kossie to remain at home and for taking such good care of him for the last three years.
Kossie was born in Bushnell, Fla., on Oct. 14, 1917. His family moved to Lakeland, Fla., when he was 10 years old. He enjoyed playing baseball and was asked to join the Baptist baseball team and began attending First Baptist Church, Lakeland, where as a teenager he met his future wife, Fay Stevens. They were married in 1939 and after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Kossie went into the U.S. Army.
After basic training at Camp Shelby, Miss., and Officer's Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, Va., Akins was stationed with the 529th Combat Engineer Company. This company of 225 enlisted and six officers landed with the D-Day invasion forces on Utah Beach, then built bridges across France and Germany for Gen. George S. Patton's armor. They fought in the Battle of the Bulge and helped liberate Dachau death camp, remaining eye-witnesses of the Holocaust.
Akins' military career also took him to the Philippines and the Korean War, where he served as a military engineer advisor. His 25 years of military service included two other tours in Germany. Kossie retired as a lieutenant colonel from active duty in 1963, when he and his family moved to Fort Walton Beach. Working 18 years for the U.S. Postal Service in Fort Walton Beach, he was also known for his love and knowledge of baseball. For 35 years he held box seats at the Detroit Tigers' Spring Training site in Lakeland.
Kossie was a member and deacon of First Baptist Church of Fort Walton Beach and served on many committees and leadership positions in the church.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Annie Akins; and by seven siblings, and his beloved wife, Fay Stevens Akins. He is survived by his daughter, Darlene Akins of Roswell, Ga., the Rev. Clint Akins of Fort Walton Beach; and granddaughters, Jennifer Akins and Heather Akins of St. Louis, Mo., Kim Akins Mills of Baton Rouge, La.; and step-granddaughter, Nathalie Akins of Fort Walton Beach.
A very heartfelt thanks to his daughter-in-law, Yolande Fanjanirinarivo, for allowing Kossie to remain at home and for taking such good care of him for the last three years.
Kossie Carlyle Akins, age 91, of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., passed away Jan. 31, 2009.
Kossie was born in Bushnell, Fla., on Oct. 14, 1917. His family moved to Lakeland, Fla., when he was 10 years old. He enjoyed playing baseball and was asked to join the Baptist baseball team and began attending First Baptist Church, Lakeland, where as a teenager he met his future wife, Fay Stevens. They were married in 1939 and after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Kossie went into the U.S. Army.
After basic training at Camp Shelby, Miss., and Officer's Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, Va., Akins was stationed with the 529th Combat Engineer Company. This company of 225 enlisted and six officers landed with the D-Day invasion forces on Utah Beach, then built bridges across France and Germany for Gen. George S. Patton's armor. They fought in the Battle of the Bulge and helped liberate Dachau death camp, remaining eye-witnesses of the Holocaust.
Akins' military career also took him to the Philippines and the Korean War, where he served as a military engineer advisor. His 25 years of military service included two other tours in Germany. Kossie retired as a lieutenant colonel from active duty in 1963, when he and his family moved to Fort Walton Beach. Working 18 years for the U.S. Postal Service in Fort Walton Beach, he was also known for his love and knowledge of baseball. For 35 years he held box seats at the Detroit Tigers' Spring Training site in Lakeland.
Kossie was a member and deacon of First Baptist Church of Fort Walton Beach and served on many committees and leadership positions in the church.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Annie Akins; and by seven siblings, and his beloved wife, Fay Stevens Akins. He is survived by his daughter, Darlene Akins of Roswell, Ga., the Rev. Clint Akins of Fort Walton Beach; and granddaughters, Jennifer Akins and Heather Akins of St. Louis, Mo., Kim Akins Mills of Baton Rouge, La.; and step-granddaughter, Nathalie Akins of Fort Walton Beach.
A very heartfelt thanks to his daughter-in-law, Yolande Fanjanirinarivo, for allowing Kossie to remain at home and for taking such good care of him for the last three years.
Kossie was born in Bushnell, Fla., on Oct. 14, 1917. His family moved to Lakeland, Fla., when he was 10 years old. He enjoyed playing baseball and was asked to join the Baptist baseball team and began attending First Baptist Church, Lakeland, where as a teenager he met his future wife, Fay Stevens. They were married in 1939 and after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Kossie went into the U.S. Army.
After basic training at Camp Shelby, Miss., and Officer's Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, Va., Akins was stationed with the 529th Combat Engineer Company. This company of 225 enlisted and six officers landed with the D-Day invasion forces on Utah Beach, then built bridges across France and Germany for Gen. George S. Patton's armor. They fought in the Battle of the Bulge and helped liberate Dachau death camp, remaining eye-witnesses of the Holocaust.
Akins' military career also took him to the Philippines and the Korean War, where he served as a military engineer advisor. His 25 years of military service included two other tours in Germany. Kossie retired as a lieutenant colonel from active duty in 1963, when he and his family moved to Fort Walton Beach. Working 18 years for the U.S. Postal Service in Fort Walton Beach, he was also known for his love and knowledge of baseball. For 35 years he held box seats at the Detroit Tigers' Spring Training site in Lakeland.
Kossie was a member and deacon of First Baptist Church of Fort Walton Beach and served on many committees and leadership positions in the church.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Annie Akins; and by seven siblings, and his beloved wife, Fay Stevens Akins. He is survived by his daughter, Darlene Akins of Roswell, Ga., the Rev. Clint Akins of Fort Walton Beach; and granddaughters, Jennifer Akins and Heather Akins of St. Louis, Mo., Kim Akins Mills of Baton Rouge, La.; and step-granddaughter, Nathalie Akins of Fort Walton Beach.
A very heartfelt thanks to his daughter-in-law, Yolande Fanjanirinarivo, for allowing Kossie to remain at home and for taking such good care of him for the last three years.
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World War II
Korea
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