Jeffrey Cogar

Jeffrey Wade Cogar, 56, of Colorado Springs, passed away July 21, 2016, after a long illness. He was born on September 6, 1959 in San Jose, Calif., to Kenneth Cogar and Shirley Schott Cogar. Jeff joined the United States Air Force after graduating from high school in California. After basic training he was stationed at Shreveport Air Force Base in Louisiana and trained as a Computer Technician. Jeff served with the U. S. Air Force from 1977 to 1997 and he retired from the Air Force after 20 years of service achieving the rank of Master Sergeant. He did tours of duties throughout the United States and overseas. Jeff did two tours of duty in Germany and five deployments to Saudi Arabia. During his first tour in Germany, he met his wife, Laura Redding Cogar and they were married on August 4, 1982 in Velje, Denmark. During his career he received numerous honors some of which include: Air Force Achievement Medal, Commendation Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Humanitarian Service Medal plus many more. Six years of his career were spent serving as an instructor for the computer systems used at NORAD at Cheyenne Mountain and at which time he received a Master Instructor Certificate. During his time of service in Colorado Springs at Peterson Air Force base, their daughter, Patricia, was born in 1990. They volunteered for a second tour to Germany at which time their son, Joshua was born in 1992. He loved to build models and the outdoors. He loved spending time with his family. He was a devoted husband, father, son and friend. Jeff graduated from Silvercreek High School in San Jose, Calif. and received his associates of applied science degree from the Community College of the Air Force. He also earned a Microsoft A+ certification. Jeff is survived by his wife of nearly 34 years and two children: Patricia Cogar and Joshua Cogar, of Colorado Springs. He is also survived by his father, Kenneth and step mother, Bernice, of Roseville, California, mother-in-law and her husband, Patricia and Tom Lester of Pueblo, Colorado, a step brother, Steve of California, his brother, Mike of California, sister and her husband, Betty and Barney Ortiz also of California, and a sister, Michelle. He is also survived by two brother-in-laws, David Redding of Penrose, Colorado and Dan Redding of Pueblo West, Colorado and a sister-in-law and her husband, Sherry Gibbany-Poulos and Marc Poulos, of Cotter, Arkansas and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his mother, Shirley Schott Cogar, grandparents and a brother-in-law, Howard Gibbany. We wish to thank all the nurses, doctors and other staff at Memorial Hospital, Life Care Center and Liberty Dialysis who cared for Jeff through his many years of his illness. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Diabetes Foundation, www.diabetes.org/Donate or Veterans Foundation, http://www.vsf-usa.org. Donations can be given in memory of Jeff Cogar.