Carl Dave Corbit

CORBIT,
Carl Dave

Carl went to be with the Lord on April 27 at Creek- side Inn Assisted Living Home in Coeur d' Alene. He had lived bravely battling the devastating disease of Alzheimer's for the last 12 years.
Carl was born in Seattle, Washington in 1931 to Carl Voyle and Esther Julia Corbit. His family lived near Seattle until moving to the Hanford Area, where Carl Senior worked on the secret nuclear reactor project. Carl attended grade school in Richland. The family moved to Blanchard, Idaho when he was a young teenager. Carl attended Newport High School, where he excelled in track, basketball, and football. His foot- ball team was the only undefeated Newport High team. He graduated in 1949. Carl went into the navy and worked on aircraft carrier CV 37, The Princeton, as an airplane mechanic during the Korean War. He was awarded a medal.
Carl met Marilyn Jones, his future wife, in Spirit Lake, Idaho before he went into the service. He wrote her while he served in the Navy and proposed when he came back to Idaho. They were married in June 1955. Carl attended North Idaho Community College and the University of Idaho. He then earned a full scholarship to University of Oregon in Eugene and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He later earned a masters' degree in Radiological Sciences from the University of Washington. Carl taught biology and physiology at Mountain Home High School, coached the track team and was a band director and drama director there. He won the national award from Better Homes and Gardens magazine and the National Teaching Association as the most inspirational teacher.
Carl went to work at the Hanford Nuclear Project as a health physicist specializing in radiation protection. He taught classes and supervised health physics teams. He made flights to several U.S. nuclear plants, monitoring radiation safety. He won many awards and honors during his professional years at Hanford. Carl worked as a nuclear engineer and health physicist for the Atomic Energy Commission, Douglas Laboratories, and United Nuclear Industries. He later worked for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, retiring in 1991. Carl served the Columbia Chapter of the Health Physics Society as President in 1968, and was a lifetime member.
Carl was an avid hunter and fisherman, scoring his first buck at age 12 and adding to the total for many years, including elk bagged in Idaho's primitive areas. He was also musically talented, playing five instruments. He was a member of a music group in his high school days in Blanchard, Idaho. One of his favorite ways to cheer people up was whistling, which he also taught his children.
In later life, Carl had several recreational passions, including hunting and bridge, which he combined well. Carl and his wife, Marilyn, have a cabin on 50 acres outside Blanchard, ID. The road into their cabin provides the only access to 3 square miles of timber land, which became Carl's private game reserve. He and his hunting buddies built tree stands in selected locations, from which they harvested many specimens by outwitting deer in their stands. A typical hunting day started with a hearty breakfast at 5 am, climbing into tree stands before daylight, hunting for 2 hours, return to the cabin and play bridge for 6 hours including lunch, more hunting until dusk, dinner, and more bridge. Carl also loved jokes and was well known for his tall tales.
Carl was a born-again Christian at an early age. His family co-established the Blanchard Community Church in Blanchard, Idaho. When his family lived in Richland, Carl was a member of Bethany United Protestant church, where he taught Sunday School and sponsored the teen-age youth group. He was active in Boy Scouts as a leader. He and his wife Marilyn had three children, Suzanne (Alan) Endres, Danniel (India) Corbit, and Julie (Kevin) Barney. They have nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, with another great- grandchild on the way. Carl is also survived by sisters, Joyce Wanous and Karen Szakonyi and cousins Melvin, Leonard and Chuck Corbit.
A memorial service will be held in Idaho at Blanchard Community Church at 2 PM on Saturday, May 7, with the Reverend Mark Miller officiating. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to the Blanchard Church memorial fund.