William Melvin Corbin

Corbin, William Melvin
Mr. William M. Corbin passed away January 1, 2012. Corbin was born August 27, 1918 in Xenia, Ohio, the first child to Clara Gaines Corbin and HIckman Corbin. He was known as "Melvin" by his parents and siblings to distinguish him from his grandfather WIlliam. "Melvin" was elder brother to Wanda, Lois, and Ivan who all preceeded him in death. His nephews Michael and Ivan "Jeffrey", and his niece Kathy all lovingly called him "Uncle Melvin". Xenia, Ohio is near WIlberforce University, an historically Black college founded by the African Methodist Episcopal Church and Corbin grew up as a member of the A.M.E. Church. In Arizona, everyone knew him simply as "Bill" Corbin. "Bill" joined the Carver High School Faculty as the Industrial Arts teacher in 1947. He came to Carver leaving a position in Charlotte, North Carolina. Immediately, he began to improve and enlarge the facilities housing the shop program. Previously, the only offering was Woods and limited Metal Working. A few years later, the shop building was enlarged and another teacher was hired. Theareafter, a variety of program offerings were added which included Mechanical Drawing, Auto-Mechanics, Electrical Wiring, Photography, Printing, and Metal Shop. The Art Department occupied the second floor having moved from the main building. The nurse's office occupied the area formerly housing the R.O.T.C. program. Bill Corbin held BS and MA degrees from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. In addition, he attended the following universities: Southern California, Arizona State, Northern Arizona, and the University of Arizona. He also completed technical courses at the Universal Technical Institute and R.C.A. Institute, Inc. After the integration of Phoenix high schools, he joined the faculty of South Mountain High School as shop teacher. Later he became a specialist over the Instructional Materials Department serving in this position many years before retiring. Using his skills and preparation, he operated the Capitol TV Repair Shop in central Phoenix for twenty-three years. Bill met his wife Clendolyn Bailey by the fountain at the University of Southern California. They married December 25, 1951 and celebrated 60 years of marriage just last week. Their marriage was bleseed by the adoption of two children Gary Kevin Corbin and Angela Ann Corbin Bransford. Bill was grandfather to six: Shawndrae, Kealynn and Kendall Corbin; Melanie, Melissa and Meredith Bransford. Through the years, he was a loyal member of Tanner Chapel A.M.E. Church and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Services will be held on Friday, January 6, 2012 with a vistation starting at 9:00a.m. and funeral service at 10:00a.m. at Greenwood Memory Lawn Mortuary, 719 N. 27th Ave in Phoenix with burial to follow. For additional information visit www.greenwoodmemorylawn.com