Elbert Palmer “Bud” Corbin

December 31, 1912 ~ May 2, 2009

Elbert Palmer “Bud” Corbin was born December 31, 1912 to John Whitbread “J.W.” Corbin and Ila Elizabeth Palmer in Monticello at the telephone office where his parents lived and worked. 

He grew up in Moab and was a popular young teenager.

His parents sent him to Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, UT, where he surpassed everyone’s expectations and graduated with honors in 1940.

He joined the army on November 19, 1942.  Shortly after basic training he was chosen, along with 280 other soldiers, to take an accelerated engineering program at the University of Iowa.  He used this engineering degree, along with his knowledge of telephones and communication to take him far in his career.

Before joining the army he met his first love, Arah Emily Wilson. Shortly before the end of World War II, they eloped to Taos, NM on September 1, 1945. 

He took his new bride to Monticello and then headed back to the army to finish his tour of duty. 

Together they had four children: David Randall (Silvia), Arah Dianne (Rye)Nielson, Collette (Lyn) Talley, and Jeffery Wilson (Kristy) Corbin.

Bud worked hard his entire life.  From the time he was a young man he worked in the family telephone business. 

In 1965, when the family sold Midland Telephone Company, he went to work for Contel.  During that time he was the state manager in Idaho.

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