Colonel Jacob P. (Jake) Accola was born August 31 1916, the second son of Lawrence and Leila Accola, farmers in the Kickapoo Valley near Steuben, WS. A year before Jake was born his father contracted tuberculosis. At that time the only satisfactory treatment was retirement to a warm, dry climate. Thus it was that in October 1917 the family came to Colorado. The family had a distant relative in Cedaredge, located at the base of the Grand Mesa, the largest flat topped mountain in the world. The climate was ideal. Lawrence seemed to recover, but as it was then with so many tubercular patients, he went back to work prematurely. In the summer of 1922 he suffered a relapse and passed away in November.
Lawrence had exacted a promise from the family that it would remain in Cedaredge for a year after his death. When the time came to return to Wisconsin, Jake's mother, brother Robert and he could not leave Cedaredge. It remained home to each as long as each lived. Jake graduated from Cedaredge High School in 1933, perhaps the low point of the Great Depression. He had a "must use or lose" scholarship to a state institution. His mother was insistent the scholarship not be forfeited. Only the expenses at Western State College were within the family means. So it was there that he received his college education. He was always extremely grateful to Western for the opportunities it opened to him. He graduated in 1937 and was very fortunate to secure a job at teaching and assistant coach in football and basketball at La Junta. La Junta was a bustling terminal on the Santa Fe railroad. The travelling public was not yet comfortable with air travel. It was the decade of the diesel streamliner. The La Junta community was a dream world to Jake. A high school of 500 students. Handsome athletic boys and pretty vivacious girls. Only the threat of the WWII draft induced him to leave La Junta. In March of 1941 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and graduated from Mather Field navigation school in November. He was assigned to the 19th bomb wing flying the B-17 heavy bomber, many of the wing's B-17's already in the Philippines with General MacArthur. He was at Hamilton Field, California, scheduled to leave with a b-17 crew when the Pearl Harbor disaster occurred. Because the Honolulu-Hickam air route could be used, he was reassigned to the 77th squadron of the 28th composite group. The 77th flew the Martin B-26 medium bomber and was on its way to Alaska and the Aleutians in January 1942.
In April 1943 Jake was assigned to a B-25 training wing at Columbia, South Carolina. There he met and soon married Mary Kathryn Derrick in August 1946. Three children were born to the union: Thomas in July 1947 and twins John and Robin in June 1950. The family enjoyed tours in Hawaii, England, Nebraska, and Illinois. Jake retired in April 1971, choosing to locate with Mary in Colorado Springs because of the US Air Force Academy and its excellent medial and athletic facilities. Cedaredge is perhaps more distant from an active military base than any community in the US. Thus the seeming inconsistence of their retirement to the Springs rather than Cedaredge.
The family still lives in their home, Saling West, purchased upon Jake's retirement. Early on Jake was active in community affairs such as the homeowners' association, of which he was a member and one time president. He was also active in Republican Party affairs. Always a strong supporter of Western State College, Jake was an early member and one time president of the Western State College foundation. He was deeply committed to Western State and Air Force Academy athletics, having been the first athlete to be awarded a life time pass to Western Athletic Conference sporting events. Jake was a charter member of the Air Force Academy Athletic Association.
Surviving are son, Tom, a resident of West Melbourne, FL and daughter, Robin, of Chicago. Son John a well-known reporter for the Rocky Mount News, was lost in June, 2006 after a sudden heart attack. John's wife Marlene and son Jacob reside in Sedalia, CO; his stepdaughter Andrea is a resident of Denver; stepson Bryan resides in Salida, CO. Tom's son, TJ, lives in Castle Rock and his son Paul is a student at UCCS. Robin's twin daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, survive in Chicago and Indianapolis.
No local services are planned. Interment will be in the family plot in Cedaredge Cemetery.
Lawrence had exacted a promise from the family that it would remain in Cedaredge for a year after his death. When the time came to return to Wisconsin, Jake's mother, brother Robert and he could not leave Cedaredge. It remained home to each as long as each lived. Jake graduated from Cedaredge High School in 1933, perhaps the low point of the Great Depression. He had a "must use or lose" scholarship to a state institution. His mother was insistent the scholarship not be forfeited. Only the expenses at Western State College were within the family means. So it was there that he received his college education. He was always extremely grateful to Western for the opportunities it opened to him. He graduated in 1937 and was very fortunate to secure a job at teaching and assistant coach in football and basketball at La Junta. La Junta was a bustling terminal on the Santa Fe railroad. The travelling public was not yet comfortable with air travel. It was the decade of the diesel streamliner. The La Junta community was a dream world to Jake. A high school of 500 students. Handsome athletic boys and pretty vivacious girls. Only the threat of the WWII draft induced him to leave La Junta. In March of 1941 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and graduated from Mather Field navigation school in November. He was assigned to the 19th bomb wing flying the B-17 heavy bomber, many of the wing's B-17's already in the Philippines with General MacArthur. He was at Hamilton Field, California, scheduled to leave with a b-17 crew when the Pearl Harbor disaster occurred. Because the Honolulu-Hickam air route could be used, he was reassigned to the 77th squadron of the 28th composite group. The 77th flew the Martin B-26 medium bomber and was on its way to Alaska and the Aleutians in January 1942.
In April 1943 Jake was assigned to a B-25 training wing at Columbia, South Carolina. There he met and soon married Mary Kathryn Derrick in August 1946. Three children were born to the union: Thomas in July 1947 and twins John and Robin in June 1950. The family enjoyed tours in Hawaii, England, Nebraska, and Illinois. Jake retired in April 1971, choosing to locate with Mary in Colorado Springs because of the US Air Force Academy and its excellent medial and athletic facilities. Cedaredge is perhaps more distant from an active military base than any community in the US. Thus the seeming inconsistence of their retirement to the Springs rather than Cedaredge.
The family still lives in their home, Saling West, purchased upon Jake's retirement. Early on Jake was active in community affairs such as the homeowners' association, of which he was a member and one time president. He was also active in Republican Party affairs. Always a strong supporter of Western State College, Jake was an early member and one time president of the Western State College foundation. He was deeply committed to Western State and Air Force Academy athletics, having been the first athlete to be awarded a life time pass to Western Athletic Conference sporting events. Jake was a charter member of the Air Force Academy Athletic Association.
Surviving are son, Tom, a resident of West Melbourne, FL and daughter, Robin, of Chicago. Son John a well-known reporter for the Rocky Mount News, was lost in June, 2006 after a sudden heart attack. John's wife Marlene and son Jacob reside in Sedalia, CO; his stepdaughter Andrea is a resident of Denver; stepson Bryan resides in Salida, CO. Tom's son, TJ, lives in Castle Rock and his son Paul is a student at UCCS. Robin's twin daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, survive in Chicago and Indianapolis.
No local services are planned. Interment will be in the family plot in Cedaredge Cemetery.
Colonel Jacob P. (Jake) Accola was born August 31 1916, the second son of Lawrence and Leila Accola, farmers in the Kickapoo Valley near Steuben, WS. A year before Jake was born his father contracted tuberculosis. At that time the only satisfactory treatment was retirement to a warm, dry climate. Thus it was that in October 1917 the family came to Colorado. The family had a distant relative in Cedaredge, located at the base of the Grand Mesa, the largest flat topped mountain in the world. The climate was ideal. Lawrence seemed to recover, but as it was then with so many tubercular patients, he went back to work prematurely. In the summer of 1922 he suffered a relapse and passed away in November.
Lawrence had exacted a promise from the family that it would remain in Cedaredge for a year after his death. When the time came to return to Wisconsin, Jake's mother, brother Robert and he could not leave Cedaredge. It remained home to each as long as each lived. Jake graduated from Cedaredge High School in 1933, perhaps the low point of the Great Depression. He had a "must use or lose" scholarship to a state institution. His mother was insistent the scholarship not be forfeited. Only the expenses at Western State College were within the family means. So it was there that he received his college education. He was always extremely grateful to Western for the opportunities it opened to him. He graduated in 1937 and was very fortunate to secure a job at teaching and assistant coach in football and basketball at La Junta. La Junta was a bustling terminal on the Santa Fe railroad. The travelling public was not yet comfortable with air travel. It was the decade of the diesel streamliner. The La Junta community was a dream world to Jake. A high school of 500 students. Handsome athletic boys and pretty vivacious girls. Only the threat of the WWII draft induced him to leave La Junta. In March of 1941 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and graduated from Mather Field navigation school in November. He was assigned to the 19th bomb wing flying the B-17 heavy bomber, many of the wing's B-17's already in the Philippines with General MacArthur. He was at Hamilton Field, California, scheduled to leave with a b-17 crew when the Pearl Harbor disaster occurred. Because the Honolulu-Hickam air route could be used, he was reassigned to the 77th squadron of the 28th composite group. The 77th flew the Martin B-26 medium bomber and was on its way to Alaska and the Aleutians in January 1942.
In April 1943 Jake was assigned to a B-25 training wing at Columbia, South Carolina. There he met and soon married Mary Kathryn Derrick in August 1946. Three children were born to the union: Thomas in July 1947 and twins John and Robin in June 1950. The family enjoyed tours in Hawaii, England, Nebraska, and Illinois. Jake retired in April 1971, choosing to locate with Mary in Colorado Springs because of the US Air Force Academy and its excellent medial and athletic facilities. Cedaredge is perhaps more distant from an active military base than any community in the US. Thus the seeming inconsistence of their retirement to the Springs rather than Cedaredge.
The family still lives in their home, Saling West, purchased upon Jake's retirement. Early on Jake was active in community affairs such as the homeowners' association, of which he was a member and one time president. He was also active in Republican Party affairs. Always a strong supporter of Western State College, Jake was an early member and one time president of the Western State College foundation. He was deeply committed to Western State and Air Force Academy athletics, having been the first athlete to be awarded a life time pass to Western Athletic Conference sporting events. Jake was a charter member of the Air Force Academy Athletic Association.
Surviving are son, Tom, a resident of West Melbourne, FL and daughter, Robin, of Chicago. Son John a well-known reporter for the Rocky Mount News, was lost in June, 2006 after a sudden heart attack. John's wife Marlene and son Jacob reside in Sedalia, CO; his stepdaughter Andrea is a resident of Denver; stepson Bryan resides in Salida, CO. Tom's son, TJ, lives in Castle Rock and his son Paul is a student at UCCS. Robin's twin daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, survive in Chicago and Indianapolis.
No local services are planned. Interment will be in the family plot in Cedaredge Cemetery.
Lawrence had exacted a promise from the family that it would remain in Cedaredge for a year after his death. When the time came to return to Wisconsin, Jake's mother, brother Robert and he could not leave Cedaredge. It remained home to each as long as each lived. Jake graduated from Cedaredge High School in 1933, perhaps the low point of the Great Depression. He had a "must use or lose" scholarship to a state institution. His mother was insistent the scholarship not be forfeited. Only the expenses at Western State College were within the family means. So it was there that he received his college education. He was always extremely grateful to Western for the opportunities it opened to him. He graduated in 1937 and was very fortunate to secure a job at teaching and assistant coach in football and basketball at La Junta. La Junta was a bustling terminal on the Santa Fe railroad. The travelling public was not yet comfortable with air travel. It was the decade of the diesel streamliner. The La Junta community was a dream world to Jake. A high school of 500 students. Handsome athletic boys and pretty vivacious girls. Only the threat of the WWII draft induced him to leave La Junta. In March of 1941 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and graduated from Mather Field navigation school in November. He was assigned to the 19th bomb wing flying the B-17 heavy bomber, many of the wing's B-17's already in the Philippines with General MacArthur. He was at Hamilton Field, California, scheduled to leave with a b-17 crew when the Pearl Harbor disaster occurred. Because the Honolulu-Hickam air route could be used, he was reassigned to the 77th squadron of the 28th composite group. The 77th flew the Martin B-26 medium bomber and was on its way to Alaska and the Aleutians in January 1942.
In April 1943 Jake was assigned to a B-25 training wing at Columbia, South Carolina. There he met and soon married Mary Kathryn Derrick in August 1946. Three children were born to the union: Thomas in July 1947 and twins John and Robin in June 1950. The family enjoyed tours in Hawaii, England, Nebraska, and Illinois. Jake retired in April 1971, choosing to locate with Mary in Colorado Springs because of the US Air Force Academy and its excellent medial and athletic facilities. Cedaredge is perhaps more distant from an active military base than any community in the US. Thus the seeming inconsistence of their retirement to the Springs rather than Cedaredge.
The family still lives in their home, Saling West, purchased upon Jake's retirement. Early on Jake was active in community affairs such as the homeowners' association, of which he was a member and one time president. He was also active in Republican Party affairs. Always a strong supporter of Western State College, Jake was an early member and one time president of the Western State College foundation. He was deeply committed to Western State and Air Force Academy athletics, having been the first athlete to be awarded a life time pass to Western Athletic Conference sporting events. Jake was a charter member of the Air Force Academy Athletic Association.
Surviving are son, Tom, a resident of West Melbourne, FL and daughter, Robin, of Chicago. Son John a well-known reporter for the Rocky Mount News, was lost in June, 2006 after a sudden heart attack. John's wife Marlene and son Jacob reside in Sedalia, CO; his stepdaughter Andrea is a resident of Denver; stepson Bryan resides in Salida, CO. Tom's son, TJ, lives in Castle Rock and his son Paul is a student at UCCS. Robin's twin daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, survive in Chicago and Indianapolis.
No local services are planned. Interment will be in the family plot in Cedaredge Cemetery.
Family Members
Siblings
Children
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
