Arlington burial due Sem grad, Iraq victim

A 2000 Wyoming Seminary graduate killed earlier this month in Iraq will be buried today in Arlington National Cemetery.

Army 1st First Lieutenant Colby J. Umbrell, 26, was killed May 3 in Musayyib, Iraq, after a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle, according to a May 4 Department of Defense statement.

Umbrell, originally of Doylestown, attended Wyoming Seminary for one year as a post graduate student following his graduation from Central Bucks High School East in 1999.

A talented football player, Umbrell suffered a knee injury in his senior year at Central Bucks East, and came to the Kingston preparatory school to work on his football scouting video and improve his academic record.

“Wyoming Seminary was probably one of the best things that ever happened to him,” Umbrell’s father, Mark Umbrell, said. “It really helped him a lot with the more academic colleges when he was being recruited,”

Umbrell did not shy away from difficult classes at Seminary; in his year at the school he packed his schedule with challenging subjects, including advanced placement calculus.

“I think he was a good influence on the other postgraduates,” Wyoming Seminary President H. Jeremy Packard said. “He knew why he was here, which was to improve his academics.”

Umbrell’s parents remember their son as an individual who gave his all to tackle every challenge, and usually succeeded.

Umbrell had been interested in serving in the military from at least his years in junior high school, his father said, adding that he was enthralled by childhood trips to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Arlington National Cemetery.

His commitment to taking on the most difficult challenges also led Umbrell to choose to attend the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore over West Point after his graduation from Seminary in 2000. Umbrell majored in political science and played defensive line for the university’s football team.

Following his 2004 graduation from Johns Hopkins, Umbrell almost immediately enlisted in the Army, signing up in June. He was selected for Army Ranger training and passed the rigorous program on his first attempt, a feat accomplished on the first try by only one in five soldiers.

Umbrell was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry division, based in Fort Richardson, Alaska. He was deployed to Iraq in October 2006.

Following the completion of his tour of duty, Umbrell planned to re-enlist and to attend law school in hope of joining the military’s Judge Advocate General Corps.

Umbrell’s commitment to making others smile led to an active involvement in community service projects. While attending high school at Central Bucks East, he participated in service projects for the Special Olympics, and recently initiated a drive to collect paper, pencils and pencil sharpeners for school children in Iraq.