Bertram Thomas Combs
and Mable Hall

Bertram Thomas "Bert" Combs b 13 Aug 1911 Beech Creek, Manchester, Clay Co KY d 6 Dec 1991 Stanton, Powell Co KY (killed by drowning in his automobile in an automobile accident in Rosslyn, KY) s/o Stephen Gibson Combs and Martha Jones. Bert Thomas Combs m. (divorced 1969) Mable Hall. Bertram Thomas "Bert" Combs military service, US Army WWII, Captain, discharged 1946. Educated at Clay County KY High School, UK College of Law 1937 and Cumberland College, Williamsburg, KY. Served on the KY Court of Appeals Cincinnati, Hamilton Co OH, 1951 - 1955. City attorney Prestonsburg, KY. Wyatt, Tarrant and Combs senior partner. Governor of Kentucky 1959 - 1963. Children of Bert Thomas Combs and Mable Hall;

1. Lois Combs b 18 Dec 1943 m. William R "Bill" Weinberg

2. Thomas "Tommy" Combs b 16 May 1945.

(Source) The dedication and unveiling of statues honoring Governor Bert T Combs occurred on 20 Apr 2007 in Stanton, KY and Prestonsburg, KY. The unveiling was performed by Sara Walter Combs, (wife of Bert T Combs) Chief Judge of KY Court of Appeals and Project Director, Joe Bowen. Joe originated the idea of the statue and was the primary driving force behind the project.

Bert Thomas Combs
and Helen Rechtin

Bertram Thomas "Bert" Combs b 13 Aug 1911 Manchester, Powell Co KY d 6 Dec 1991 Stanton, Powell Co KY s/o Stephen G Combs and Martha Jones. Bert Thomas Combs m. 1969 (divorced) 2nd to Helen Rechtin.

Bert Thomas Combs
and Sarah Walter

Bertram Thomas "Bert" Combs b 13 Aug 1911 Manchester, Powell Co KY d 6 Dec 1991 Stanton, Powell Co KY s/o Stephen G Combs and Martha Jones. Bert Thomas Combs m. 30 Dec 1988 to his assistant lawyer, Sarah Walter, later became Chief Judge of KY Court of Appeals.

In 1979 Combs hired an assistant lawyer, Sara Walter, to help with his workload in the law firm. Their mutual admiration developed into a deep and abiding love. Combs had bought a farm in Powell County on Cane Creek. He wanted to live in the mountains close to his grandchildren in Knott County yet have a comfortable drive to his Lexington law office.

Combs assigned Sara the job of building him a home on Cane Creek. She immersed herself in the project and became the construction manager and assistant to the architect. After a year the result was an elegant, log home nestled at the foot of a mountain overlooking Cane Creek and its lush, green valley.

Sara named the farm and home Fern Hill after a poem written by Dylan Thomas. To Combs the poem described Fern Hill and what it was and what it would become. Sara Walter Combs told The Clay City Times in 1992 that Fern Hill was “time-out from time itself for the judge.”