Editor’s Note: This list consists of selected obituaries published in the Marietta Daily Journal from Jan. 1 to Dec. 15, 2023.
Over the course of the year, the residents of Cobb County have lost family, friends, coworkers and neighbors. As 2023 draws to a close, we take a moment to look back and remember the lives of some of our citizens once more.
JANUARY
Robert Dale Materna, died Sunday, Jan. 1.
A Front Royal, Virginia native, Materna was born on July 4, 1947. After high school graduation, he received an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy. Following graduation he completed pilot training and was assigned to Norton Air Force Base in California, where he flew C-141s throughout Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. He also flew missions into Israel during the Yom Kippur War, followed by a tour to Southeast Asia flying OV-10 Broncos out of Nakhon Phanom, Thailand.
Upon his return to the U.S. from Asia, he was accepted into the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, where he earned a Master’s Degree in Logistics Management. Following his tour at Wright Patterson AFB, he returned to flying C-141s out of Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina, where he flew on a Special Operations Crew that participated in the attempted rescue of the hostages in Iran. Shortly thereafter he was invited by the Air Force to teach on the faculty at the Air Force Institute of Technology, with the requirement that he earn a Ph.D. He received his degree from Georgia State University in International Business. He then taught at AFIT completing his commitment to the Air Force.
Following 21 years of service, he retired from the Air Force and entered the civilian work force where he was employed by NCR headquarters in Dayton, Ohio, followed by Anderson Consulting (now called Accenture) in Chicago, Illinois. Later worked in research and teaching for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University -…
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