The 'other' Kokernots

Kokernot is the grandson of Walter H. Kokernot, who was the brother of Herbert, the founder of the 06 Ranch and the Alpine Cowboys.

He says he comes from the "pobre" Kokernots - the poor ones, those from the south side, the "other" Kokernots.

His father, Robert L., ranched the land beneath the mesa. His mother was the daughter of Joseph Moss, another Brewster County pioneer rancher.

Robert Kokernot was born in Alpine in 1921 in a house next door to the sheriff E.E. Townsend. In fact, the unveiling on Tuesday last week took place on his 86th birthday.

His mother and father divorced when he was very young, and she moved Robert to Southern California.

Every summer, though, he made the $16 round-trip on Southern Pacific to Alpine so he could work the ranch and spend time with all of his grandparents - Kokernots and Mosses.

"That was good. It was excellent. Because of that time I elected to study veterinary medicine at Texas A&M," Kokernot said in a phone interview last Friday from his home in Columbus, Ohio.

His father died at the age of 31 from chronic alcoholism. "That's a very sad thing," said Kokernot.

An only child ("That's why I'm spoiled") he inherited his dad's portion of the ranch - the part with the mesa, but sold it in the '70s.

Robert Kokernot graduated from A&M in 1946, but decided to continue his education in medicine.

He graduated with an M.D. from Baylor in 1950 and received a master's degree from Johns Hopkins in 1952. For about a year, he worked for the California public health system, and in 1953, received an internship with the Rockefeller Foundation, and served in South Africa for seven years and Colombia for three years.

"That was a different time," said Kokernot. "I couldn't afford to pay tuition for my children today."

Kokernot spent most of those years researching viruses that are transmitted by blood-sucking insects such as mosquitoes.

In fact, a good friend of his isolated the West Nile Virus.

He continued at the University of Illinois, followed by the Texas School of Public Health in Houston and then the Texas Tech school of medicine, where he worked the emergency room at the teaching hospital and also became licensed for family practice.

"Had it not been for good nurses I wouldn't have got to first base," he said. "But I eventually caught on."

In the meantime, Kokernot married his wife, Marlene, a financial planner, and they had four children.

Jan is a graduate of the University of Texas and is a school teacher; Peggy graduated from Trinity and worked in broadcasting for a time. She qualified for the Olympic marathon team, and is an avid animal rights activist; Walter is an English professor; and Diana is also a UT grad and a school teacher.

"All of them are active," said Kokernot. "Their parents are very proud of them."

Kokernot has enjoyed his life and the people in it, he says.

"I've been lucky enough to be associated with the type of people who make you feel comfortable all the time, like they have all the time in the world for you, and that's been a real stimulus for me," he says. "This pocket is just as flat as it can get, but I've had a great time and continue to do so."

The unveiling of the sign last week was obviously a special day for the Kokernot family.

"Look at Dad," said daughter Peggy. "He's on cloud nine."

Kokernot presented a plaque to the office of Rep. Pete Gallego from both the Kokernot and Moss families for their assistance with the placement of the sign. He also thanked B.J. Gallego of Alpine, who was present, for his help.

Due to recent rains, the mesa is especially green. Kokernot said he had never in his lifetime seen it like that.

"It was like going to a place I'd never been," he said. "I love it."