Dr. Richard Johnstone Corbin

1932 - 2017

Richard Johnstone Corbin died on December 16, 2017 at his home in Jackson, Ga. He was born on October 6, 1932 in Savannah, Ga, the son of Gawin Lane Corbin and Kathleen Culbertson Corbin. Richard spent his youth in Savannah before attending St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware from which he graduated in l951. He graduated from Sewanee, the University of the South in 1955 with a BA in English, having been actively involved in athletics at both institutions. At Sewanee he served as President of the Blue Key National Honor Service Fraternity, was a member of the Order of the Gown, the Honor Council, the Red Ribbon Academic Society, Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, and the Wellington Society, in addition to serving as a Proctor. Following graduation, he served as an officer in the U. S. Air Force, before returning to academia as a teacher at Sewanee Military Academy. He continued his education at Tulane University in New Orleans, obtaining both his MA in 1960 and his Ph.D. in Philosophy in 1973. While in New Orleans, he married Hilda McGregor Sharpe. With his love of teaching, he went on to teach a few years at Northern Colorado University in Greeley, Colorado; where his two sons Kingsley and John were born. From there, he returned to teach at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Eventually he moved to his position as a professor of English at Georgia Institute of Technology in 1969. He retired from his teaching career at Tech in 1997.

With his love of nature, gardening, education and music appreciation, Richard moved to a beautiful wooded area with a gentle creek flowing by in Jackson, Ga. Here he planted additional trees that he loved, blueberry fields and numerous flowering plants. He also started and presided over a monthly adult reading group, worked with the local library and promoted and supported the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy. He was a Life member of the Georgia Society of the Colonial Wars.

Richard is survived by two sons, Kingsley Guy Corbin and his wife, Penelope of Jackson, Ga. and Dr. John Randolph Corbin and his wife Patricia of Columbus, Ga., 8 grandchildren, Annie Corbin, Abigail Corbin, Blaise Corbin (wife Jess), Aiden Corbin, Lane Corbin, Ian Corbin, Mia Truesdell and Jack Truesdell; and his sister, Alice and her husband Robert Clark and 3 nieces.

The funeral service will be held in Savannah on January 6, 2018 at 1:00 PM at Bonaventure Cemetery. Fox and Weeks Funeral Directors, Hodgson Chapel in Savannah will be handling the arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be sent to Butts County Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy, P. O. Box 263, Jackson, GA 30233, Zoo Atlanta, 800 Cherokee Ave. SE, Atlanta, GA 30315, (online donations - zooatlanta.org) or the Humane Society.

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