Posted: Tuesday, January 6, 2009 12:00 am
May 4, 1923 - Dec. 28, 2008
Gilbert Eugene Corbin died Sunday, Dec. 28, at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center after a long battle with leukemia. He was feeling well enough to participate in the family Christmas celebration at home on Friday evening, and passed away about 48 hours after opening his presents.
Gil was born on May 4, 1923, in Penn Yan, N.Y., to Effie May Bill and Leslie G. Corbin. His father worked for the railroad and his earliest memory was of standing close to a steam engine. His love of trains continued into adulthood.
He attended grade schools in rural New York and high school in Albany. After serving in the Army Engineering Corps in World War II, he attended Carnegie Institute of Technology and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering.
He met Martha Jane Abbott while at Carnegie Tech, and they were married on June 26, 1948, and celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this summer. They lived in Cheswick, Pa., while Gil worked as a structural and highway engineer in Pittsburgh, retiring in 1987.
The family spent vacation time tent camping all over the Northeastern states and eastern Canada. Gil built a "camp kitchen" that stored all their needed food and cooking supplies. Until his health prevented it, Gil and Jane went car camping every year, and drove across the U.S. many times.
In 1989 Gil and Jane decided to move to the west coast to be closer to their three children and their only two grandchildren. They settled into their house in Philomath and became members of College United Methodist Church.
Gil was a football fan, always rooting for his beloved Pittsburg Steelers. Besides football and trains, he enjoyed stamp collecting, chess and card games. He liked nothing better than to sit down with a group of family members for a cutthroat game of Hearts.
Gil was first diagnosed with Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia in 1997. He spent the next 11 years in and out of the hospital, undergoing treatment. He amazed his doctors by recovering from serious health situations several times. (The family is convinced it's because he hated hospitals so much.)
Gil is survived by his wife, Jane; son Ken Corbin and wife Jean Goul of Wren; daughter Ali Corbin of Portland; granddaughters Samantha Corbin of Springfield and Crystal Corbin of Beaverton; and sister Phyllis Raville of Earlville, N.Y. He was preceded in death by his son, Karl, who died in June of this year.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10, at College United Methodist Church, 1123 Main St. in Philomath with private burial in the Mount Union Cemetery. The family suggests memorial contributions to the Corvallis Benton County Public Library, College United Methodist Church or the Philomath Rural Fire Department.