Steven Wallace Cobb was born December 19, 1959, to Mary Ann Cobb and the late Wallace W. Cobb of Wiggins, Mississippi. Steve grew up helping his dad on the family farm. His love for agriculture led him to Mississippi State University, where he graduated in 1981 with a BS in agronomy. Steve enjoyed growing vegetables and raising beef cattle. He was looking forward to retirement when he would be able to farm full time.

Steve began his career with the USDA Forest Service in 1983. He was a civil engineer technician on the DeSoto Ranger District where he received numerous awards, most notably the Southern Region 2012 Engineer Technician of the Year. During his 32 years with the Forest Service, Steve’s duties included firefighting. He was a firefighter on numerous wildfires in the west and southeast United States. In 1989, Steve began working in fire aviation, which included prescribed burns and fire suppression. He enjoyed fire aviation and worked his way up in position. He started as a helicopter crew member, then moved up to helicopter manager, next helibase manager, then firing boss/ignition specialist, and finally as a helicopter coordinator on the 2002 Biscuit Fire in Oregon.

On the day of his death, March 30, 2015, Steve was monitoring a controlled burn in the DeSoto National Forest when the helicopter lost engine power and crashed. Fire Management Officer Jay Boykin, who was the team leader on the prescribed burn, said, “I could easily say Steve was the best firing boss in the region and probably the country. He knew what he was doing. He was the best there was.”

Steve was a good, faithful, hardworking man who loved God, his family, his friends and co-workers. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Wiggins, where he served as deacon and was a Sunday school teacher. He is deeply missed by his wife of 36 years, Cindy Cobb; his son, Adam Cobb, and daughter-in-law, Jodi; his daughter, Jenna Parsons, and son-in-law, Jeremy; his grandchildren, Tucker and Cullen Cobb and Olivia Parsons; his mother, Mary Ann Cobb; his sister, Marilyn Judge; and numerous extended family, friends, and coworkers.