Memorial services will be held on Wednesday for Craig Cobane, the cornerstone and executive director of the Mahurin Honors College, WKU announced.

Services will be held at J.C. Kirby and Sons Funeral Chapel on Lover’s Lane. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to noon, and the funeral service will immediately follow at noon.

In an email to the WKU community, Rodney

King, interim associate director of the Mahurin Honors College, offered condolences. “We extend our deepest sympathies to Dr. Cobane’s family, friends, and all who were touched by his remarkable spirit,” King said.

Cobane had been battling osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, for two years. He had announced earlier this year that he would be moving into hospice care after he had reached a point in his medical journey where there were no treatments left.

“Dr. Cobane was a dedicated and inspiring educator, leading many students to realize their ‘big dreams’ while at WKU,” King said in an email to the Honors College community on Saturday, May 25. “He was also a loving and devoted family member and spouse, a brilliant and innovative thinker, and a passionate advocate for honors education for all students.

“His enthusiastic and energetic spirit, along with his love for the outdoors, was well-known and admired. In his final months, he exemplified resilience and strength, maintaining his optimism throughout.”

“He was a great man,” Sam Kurtz, SGA president, said about Cobane in a video message online. “[An] outstanding individual whose impact shock-waved across the Honors College, all over campus and definitely across the nation.”

All are welcomed to share their memories of Cobane online, and if any wish to send sympathy cards to the family, they should be addressed to the Honors College, King said.

News reporter Cameron Shaw can be reached at [email protected].