Novato, CA

On June 19th, 2024 Ronnie Wayne Corkrey, 91, passed away after battling pneumonia and a series of health complications. Corkrey lived independently in Black Point, California where he was active in his strong Catholic faith. He thrived on supporting family needs, working on home projects, and doing landscaping. Ron was an amazing cook.

In recent years Ron sang in the St. Anthony’s Catholic Church choir and taught Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) classes. Corkrey believed strongly in the Irish values of hard work, kindness and the unwavering commitment to family.

He was born April 19th, 1933 in Portland, Maine to Lester and Irene (Levesque) Corkrey. Corkrey had six brothers and sisters. At just 17 years old, Corkrey volunteered to enter the US Navy in 1950, completing training at the Great Lakes Training Center in September of 1950. He served in the Korean War on the Navy's first dedicated Seaplane tender ship, the USS Curtiss (AV-4). The ship, constructed in 1940, was named for Glenn Curtiss, an American naval aviation pioneer who designed the Curtiss NC-4, the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Corkrey is an atomic bomb testing survivor. He sailed on the USS Curtiss from San Diego to the Eniwetok Atolls as the flagship for “Operation Greenhouse” and “Operation Ivy” during which the first hydrogen bomb “Ivy Mike” was detonated in 1952. As a Boatswain’s mate Corkrey was responsible for cleaning and maintaining the ship. He was honorably discharged from the Navy in early 1954.

On October 2, 1954 Corkrey married Karen Rae Heatlie and settled in San Francisco. They started a family on November 21st, 1955 with the birth of their first son, Joseph James Corkrey (deceased 2022). Ron and Karen would have seven children, Julie Marie (deceased 1957), Kathleen Denise (Johnson), Dennis Ronnie, Colleen Vera (Weller), James Heatlie and Jennifer Karen (O'Hara). Ron has 17 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.

Corkrey received his Masters of Business Administration from Golden Gate University. He worked for Dean Witter early in his career and Matson Shipping at the Port of Oakland for nearly 20 years. In 1979, Corkrey took a position as Project Manager with the federal US Department of Commerce and moved his family to Leesburg, VA where they lived until 1993. Corkrey retired from the US Department of Transportation that year and moved back to California to the city of Novato.

At the request of Ron, the Corkrey family celebrated his life with a Catholic funeral mass on June 21st, 2024 followed by a faithfully-executed fully-traditional Irish wake. The celebration included Irish music and food, practical jokes, wonderful storytelling and lots of laughter. Corkrey will receive full military honors when buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery on Thursday June 27th, 2024. He will be buried next to Karen, his wife of 49 years and his infant daughter, Julie.

The Corkrey family sends sincere appreciation to all who have passed along condolences for the loss of this incredible man.