Theodore "Ted" V. Hobbie, age 91, longtime resident of Albuquerque, N.M., died in Las Vegas, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009. Ted was born in Alto, N.M., Sept. 29, 1917, and was raised in Carrizozo, N.M. He married Marion Helen Gaskill in 1940. She preceded him in death in 2003. Ted was the devoted father to two daughters who survive him, Teddie Lynn Brewer (husband, Dennis) of Las Vegas, and Julia Hobbie-Low (husband, John Low) of Millwood, N.Y. He is also survived by two nephews, Ronald E. Taylor of Albuquerque and John T. Taylor of Coralles, N.M.; and two grandchildren, Stephen C. Brewer of Las Vegas, and Lisa Lynn Chapman of Falls Church, Va. Ted retired from the U.S. Air Force after 28 years of service. He served in World War II and was wounded in Pearl Harbor, for which he received a Purple Heart. He was a member of St. Mark's on the Mesa Episcopal Church, where he served as an usher for many years. He was a longtime member of the Ballut Abyad Shrine in Albuquerque, where he had many friends. His remains will be interred at St. Mark's on the Mesa Church.

Hobbie was a flight engineer on B-24A #40-2371. He and his crew belonged to the 88th reconnaissance Squadron, and arrived at Hickam Field, Hawaii on December 5, 1941 to complete final preparations for a secret project to photograph Japanese military bases in the Marshall and Caroline Islands. Problems were encountered in installing the machine guns and the aircraft was still there on the morning of 7 December. That morning, Hobbie and his crew were at hangar 15 preparing their plane for a short check flight before leaving on the next leg of their journey when the Japanese attack began. A bomb hit the hangar, wounding Hobbie and three more of the crew, and killing two more. They were two the first Americans killed in World War II, and the plane was the first US aircraft destroyed in the war.