Elvira “Birrie” Corkill

Elvira "Birrie" Corkill was born on December 5, 1946, in San Benito, Texas, to Louis Corkill and Dolores Cortez Corkill. She passed away suddenly on July 4, 2025, at the age of 78 at her home in Bishop, Texas.

Birrie is preceded in death by her parents, Louis and Dolores Corkill, her son, Michael Louis Villarreal, her husband, Arnold Villarreal and second husband, Marcelino Moreno, her sister, Elizabeth C. Tricks (Tom), brothers Michael Wayne Corkill, William Stafford Corkill, and Joseph Benedict Corkill.

She is survived by her daughter, Selina Anne Villarreal, two sons, Joseph Arnold Corkill, and Joe Danial Amaya, sisters Gloria Corkill (Gene Naquin), Luci Corkill (Timothy Hedgecock), Dolores Dowden, and two brothers, Frank Corkill, and David L. Corkill, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Birrie's life spanned from the Valley up through Dallas, Texas. She worked with: WFAA, Parkland Hospital, Cortez Funeral Home and Agency in Dallas, and the San Benito Housing Authority, and the Corpus Christi Housing Authority. However, she is especially remembered for her decades as owner of Kountry Korner Convenience Store and Kountry Korner Lounge in San Benito where her hospitality, breakfast tacos, and Friday night botanas (by Birrie and Marce) became well beloved. Her footprint in this world will be missed dearly.

Birrie once said, "You know, when Michael (her son) died, I thought I would never survive this tragedy. But, I got through it. Years later I realized how." She said, "I started looking at all the condolence cards. There were so many people praying for Michael, and there were so many people who wrote that they were praying for me. And then I knew; those prayers don't die. Prayers don't have a shelf-life. Every person who prayed for me…their prayers were there in space waiting to support and help me get through the pain the day he died, the day after he died, and still even after all these years since he died. Prayers don't have a shelf-life. They are out there in space, and we don't even know that they come down to help us when we need them."

This is how we remember the footprint Birrie leaves on earth. Her love and compassion, her empathy for all, her adoration for all living creatures who came to her doors for food, her unfiltered and lightning-quick wit, her convictions regarding the equity for all human beings, her eccentric fearlessness, her belief in the fight for social justice, her untold charity, and especially her work helping 100s of migrants to become US Citizens in the 1970s in Dallas are the footprints she leaves for us. She is always a unique force of personality to her friends and family, and that force lives with us eternally in our hearts.

Visitation will be held on Saturday, August 2, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to12:45 p.m. with an 11:00 a.m. Rosary at Thomae-Garza Funeral Home in San Benito, TX.

A Funeral Mass will be held on Saturday, August 2, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. at St. Benedict Catholic Church, 351 S. Bowie St, San Benito, TX with inurnment of ashes to follow at Mont Meta Memorial Park.

You may sign the online guestbook, light a remembrance candle, or send words of comfort to the family of Elvira "Birrie" Corkill at www.thomaegarza.com.

Funeral arrangements entrusted to the care of Thomae-Garza Funeral Home and Crematorium, 395 S. Sam Houston, San Benito, Texas, (956) 399-1331.