Lyle Dewayne Antrobus

A viewing will be held Monday, August 5 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at Allnutt, 650 West Drake Road, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80524. A Funeral Service will be held Tuesday, August 6 at 2:00 p.m., followed by a graveside service with military honors at Resthaven Cemetery, 8426 S Hwy 287, Fort Collins, Colorado 80525 returning to Allnut for a reception.

Lyle “Dewayne” Antrobus was born March 8, 1929, in Norton, Kansas. He was one of 4 children. His parents were Lyle Tremaine Antrobus and Mildred (McCall) Antrobus. His father died of Pneumonia at the age of 32 when Dewayne was 2 years old. When Dewayne was 5 years old, his mother married Claude Leroy Cole. His mother and step-dad had 3 children, Jack D. Cole of Greeley, Colorado (preceded in death), William L. “Bill” Cole of Cheyenne Wyoming, and Mildred “Oletha” Cole-Wilson of Wellington, Colorado.

Growing up Dewayne loved to farm the fields and tend to the vegetable garden with his family. Dewayne graduated high school in May 1947 in Lagrange, Wyoming where he was a “star” basketball player. He then dropped his middle name of Dewayne and became Lyle. Lyle attended Chadron Nebraska College for one year. On September 21, 1948, he enlisted in the Air Force. His first taste of military life was 13 weeks of basic training at Sheppard AFB Texas and his first duty base was Hamilton Field of San Francisco. There he was trained in the handling of survival equipment and packing of parachutes. This is when he met Officers with WWII experience including General Hap Arnold. Lyle was assigned to the General’s airplane and soon developed a great interest in learning to fly. In pursuit of his dream he was accepted into the Aviation Cadet training program.

He was Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and rated as a pilot in March 1951. After combat training at Nellis AFB of Las Vegas, Nevada, Lyle was assigned to the 36th Fighter Squadron in South Korea and flew 100 combat missions in the F-80 aircraft. In June of 1952, he was assigned for 4 years as an instructor pilot teaching young cadets to fly.

During this time, he met the love of his life on a blind date soon to be his wife, Laura “Dolores” Leman of Port Arthur, Texas. Dolores was introduced to him by his best friend and fellow fighter pilot, Travis Etheridge, whose flight callsign and nick-name was “Red” and Lyle’s flight callsign and nick-name became “Andy”. Andy and Dolores were married on March 20, 1954, right after Dolores completed her 4-year commitment as a W.A.V.E. in the Navy.

In 1956-1957, Lyle attended Air Force Schools on electronics and munitions. As a Weapon Officer he was assigned to several state-side bases and Canada. In 1960, he became a nuclear weapons liaison officer for Washington State National Guard, as an active duty USAF Officer responsible for storage security and loading training for Air National Guard Pilots. He was a technical representative for Hollywood directed field in 1962 on USAF nuclear-weapon loading methods. And was actually in that Hollywood movie, Air Cadet.

In 1958 while stationed in Goosebay Labrador, Canada, Andy and Dolores adopted a beautiful 9-month old baby boy and named him Michael Dewayne. And 9 months later they were blessed with a beautiful baby girl on July 3, 1960, and named her Linda Diane.

As command pilot Andy flew 6,183 hours and all were accident/damage free flights, except for “a few holes, courtesy of others”. Andy made 2,382 successful landings in over 20 countries. Logged 100 missions in Korea for 152 combat hours in F-80 aircraft, 26th Fighter Squadron. He was in Vietnam and logged combat hours as aircraft commander in the C-141 aircraft. During the Cold War, he flew interceptors and transport aircraft.

In 1966, he was promoted to Lt. Colonel and flew in combat in Vietnam through 1969. In November 1969, he retired from McGuire, AFB, New Jersey and moved his family to Fort Collins, Colorado.

Andy flew the following aircrafts: TRAINERS: T-6, T-28, T-33, JET FIGHTERS: F-80, F-86, F-89, F-102, CARGO: C-24, C-29, C-45, C-47, C-141, HELICOPTER: H-21B, LIASON: L-6, L-20.

Andy received the following medals and awards: Air Medal with 4 Clusters, AF Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Longevity Service Award, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Korea United Nations Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Republic of Korea War Service Medal.

During Andy’s lifetime, he attended several colleges from 1947 through 1973. In 1965, he received a Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and in 1973, he received a second Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Business from Colorado State University where he accepted a position as the inventory/purchasing manager for CSU Facilities until he retired in November 1990. At which time, Andy and Dolores drove their motor home visiting all but two states.

Andy’s wife, brother, Jack D. Cole and son, Michael Dewayne and great grandson, Connor Michael, precedes him in death. He is survived by his daughter, Lynda D. (Antrobus) Derschon. His son-in-law, Gary W. Derschon and their three children, Corinna L. Ter-Antonyan, her husband Vardan and their children, Colten, Chloe, Alexandra and Allie; Crystal D. Derschon and her daughter, Keira and son Connor; Kristen L. Clifton, her husband, Wes and their children Maci and Jaxon; and his nephew Jay Patterson of San Diego, California who Andy became a father-figure to after his father passed away at a young age.

In lieu of flowers, the family is accepting donations to purchase flowers and/or trees for Andy and Dolores’ memory garden already in place for their son and great-grandson. Or because Andy loved education and he loved the Air Force; donations may also be made to Colorado State University’s Air Force ROTC program at: https://advancing.colostate.edu/AFROTC.