When Walter “Wally” Cobb died in a motorcycle accident last week, he left behind two sons, and a family that wasn’t your traditional family unit.

Cobb and his ex-wife Nanci Barlau remained close friends after their 11-year marriage ended.

“We were more of a family after our divorce,” she said.

When their youngest son was confirmed, the entire family attended – Cobb and his wife Kelly, and Nanci and her husband.

“He decided it was very important that he be there,” Barlau said. “We all went as a family together.”

When their oldest son was heading to his high school prom in Waconia, they were supposed to attend as a family unit, but Cobb died before the event.

“His oldest son had to go to prom without his father,” Barlau said. “I just don’t know what to do anymore.”

Cobb loved his family, fishing, and his motorcycle, Barlau said.

“His dream was always to have a Harley Davidson,” she said of the bike that Cobb was riding when he died. “He loved it.”

She has pictures of the first time their youngest son was able to ride on the back of the Harley with his dad. They bought a helmet for him, but it didn’t fit right.

“We didn’t realize how big our youngest boy had become,” Barlau said. “But it didn’t matter – he was riding on the back of his dad’s Harley.”

And Cobb loved fishing, too.

“He has a beautiful boat that he used to take out,” Barlau said. “He used to go fishing every summer.”

But fishing and motorcycles weren’t the only things in Cobb’s life. In fact, they both took a back seat to the people that he loved.

“Family and friends were everything to Wally,” Barlau said. “Everybody that he touched felt his love. There wasn’t a day that somebody said ‘Wally I need your help’ and he wasn’t there. He was loved tremendously by all.”

Cobb lived in a house that his father bought for him in Jordan. The house was just across the street from his father’s house, and it became a place where family could just spend time together.

“They would get together on the weekend to grill and just get together,” Barlau said.

Transitioning into a life without Cobb won’t be easy for his family.

“He was a wonderful man,” Barlau said. “I don’t know how our boys are going to do it, with just Kelly and I doing it.”

 Barlau said she is going to keep all the clippings about Cobb for their boys. She's even planning on printing off entries from the guestbook on Cobb's memorial page at http://www.legacy.com/startribune/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=1090076... so the boys can see how loved their father was.