Henry Wiulliam Kombrink, my great grandfather was six foot four. Being tall he
  was chosen to be a member of the Queen's bodyguard while in Germany. It was a very
  honorable, but an unprofitable job.
     He left Germany in 1848 and landed at New Orleans. From there he traveled by
  ship up the Mississippi River and settled at St. Louis. He changed the K to C in
  Combrink when he received his citizenship. He married Katrina Wilhemena Vornbrock
  in St. Louis. She was from Germany also. They bought a farm in 1854 about 2 miles
  southeast of Carrollton, Illinois.
     My grandfather, William Henry, was born in 1854 in a house on the original farm.
  My father, David Oscar, was born in 1883 in a house 2 miles from the original farm.
  It was a two story house and had a fireplace in every room. Both houses are still
  there, and people live in them. A cousin, Katherine Combrink Grauel, lives on the
  home place which was named a "Century" farm in 1954, having been in the Combrink
  family over 100 years, and a "Century" plaque was placed in the front yard.
     The William Combrink family moved on a farm southeast of Kiowa in 1909. David
  Oscar, my father, came to Barber County in 1910 and married Bertha Smith in 1911.
     In 1916 my parents moved to grandpa Smith's farm 2 miles south and 1 west of
  Hazelton. My sister, Betty, and I were born there. We walked or rode ponies to 
  Fairview 1 mile west of our home. In 1928 we changed to Hazelton school, and I
  graduated in 1937. I attended Arkansas City Junior College, Betty attended college
  at Alva and Emporia.
     Wilma Emmele and I were married July 11, 1941. I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force
  and trained at Hondo, Texas, and Shreveport, La. From 1943 to 1945 I served overseas
  in the 9th Air Force in England and France. Our first child, Carmen, was born in 
  1942, and our son, Dennis, arrived in 1947.
     In 1949 my parents moved to Hazelton and the farm became our home. Carmen started
  to school in Hazelton. Later the children entered Kiowa school and graduated there.
  Carmen attended Kansas State 2 years, graduated from Kansas University in Occupational
  Therapy, and works at St. Lukes Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., where her husband,
  James Stoneking, will graduate  in May from the College of Osteopathy. They have two
  children, Shelley and Donna.
     Dennis graduated from Kansas State in Business Administration. He and his wife,
  Jeanne Ann (Brattin) and their children, Gina, Michael, Robin, and Joy live in San
  Marcos, Texas. Dennis is Campus Cursade Director at Southwest Texas State College.
     We have raised registered shorthorn cattle and sheep for 40 years. I was elected
  to the Farmers Co-op Board in Hazelton in 1961, serving as Secretary and Treasurer
  and President from 1965 to 1978, when I retired due to a heart attack. I'm still on
  the Board. I have served on the Barber County Planning Board, Fire Board and Rural
  Water District Board. I also served 5 years Union Equity Advisory Board and 10 years
  each on the ASCS County Committee and 4H Community Leader.
     Wilma worked in the Bank at Hazelton from 1938 to 1945. She was a leader of Cub
  Scouts, Kowa 4H, and was a member of EHU.
                
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 138 
     Submitted by: David and Wilma Combrink