Corwin L. Booth

Corwin L. Booth Corwin "Cory" Booth, noted architect and developer, died peacefully on March 7, 2008, in Oakland, CA, surrounded by his family. He was 93. Born on a farm near Columbus, IL, on February 28, 1915, Corwin attended elementary school in Columbus, Camp Point, and Quincy, and high school in Springfield. He earned his degree in architecture at the University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana campus, working as a soda jerk, waiter, and teacher of ballroom dancing. He later was employed by the noted architecture firm Albert Kahn Associates in Chicago. Corwin spent the war as a civilian architect in Honolulu, mostly working directly for the Navy. At war's end he got a job with SF architecture firm Weihe, Frick & Kruse, and was sent to Manila, where he later became chief architect for the design and construction of what was to be Clark Air Force Base. In 1949 he returned to the States, married Caroline Hammond, and moved to the Bay Area, where he partnered with structural engineer Mark Falk to form Falk & Booth. In 1965 he formed Corwin Booth & Associated Architects, which specialized in schools throughout Northern California. At its height the firm employed as many as 75 people. In 1966 Corwin purchased and moved his firm to the historic Folgers Coffee Building on Howard Street in San Francisco. In 1969 and 1970, with the end of the baby boom driven demand for new schools, he changed his focus to real estate development. He acquired the parcels surrounding the Folgers Coffee Building and proceeded with the design, construction and leasing of 211 Main Street (1973) and 221 Main Street (1975), thereby marking the beginning of the neighborhood transformation from light industrial use to what is now the heart of San Francisco's thriving South Financial District. His final design and development project was 180 Montgomery Street (1979). He had a passion for traveling to remote places, and loved to make and fly kites. He served his community as vice president of the San Francisco chapter of the American Institute of Architects, with his generous support of Saint John's, his local Episcopal parish in the Montclair district of Oakland, and with service on boards of the Episcopal Diocese of California, Saint Paul's Towers in Oakland, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and the Episcopal Homes Foundation. Corwin was the last to survive of his parents, Archie Anderson Booth and Erma Little Booth, and his three brothers Kenwood Anderson Booth, Robert Keith Booth and Byron Demming Booth. He is survived by his wife Caroline; his five children: Christopher, Douglas, Julianne Booth Knell, Carolyn Booth McFarland, and Corwin; 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A service will be held Saturday, March 15, 2008, 2PM at St. John's Episcopal Church, 1707 Gouldin Road, Oakland. Memorial gifts may be sent to St. John's, referencing its Youth Fund.