In Memory of William Lewis Correll
GCHS Alumni: Class of 1926
September 30, 2008
As a preface to this obituary, I would like to add that it was my pleasure and honor to meet Mr. Correll several years ago at a July Alumni Reunion. He and I corresponded quite often and I looked forward to reading his stories about his early life in the Oshkosh area. Bill was an extraordinary man, one who lived life to the fullest and who shared his joyful experiences with others. He will be missed.
Julie Jorgensen
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William Lewis Correll of Ephrata went to be with his Lord peacefully on Thursday morning September 25, 2008. He was born 100 years ago on May 11, 1908 on a farm in Orleans, Nebraska to Edward and Carrie Correll. Bill was the eighth of eleven children. His early years were spent on farms in Nebraska and Kansas. Bill graduated from Garden County High School in Oshkosh, NE in 1926. In 1927 he moved to Montana to farm with an older brother Sam. It was there that he met and married the love of his life Margie Boice in 1930.
In 1932 drought and the Great Depression forced Bill and Margie to leave farming and Montana to seek employment in Washington State. Bill made a trailer and converted his 1921 Reo touring car into a truck. With everything they had tied on, they moved to Washington in an immigrant caravan with other family and friends who were forced to seek a new life. They settled in Ellensburg where Bill became a radiator repairman / mechanic and auto parts man at Heinrich Auto Electric and later Butterfield Chevrolet. While Bill and Margie were living in Ellensburg they both came to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and became active in His service.
When the US entered WWII in 1941 Bill wanted to help the war effort. In 1929 he had become a certified aircraft welder and had built biplanes briefly for Arrow Aircraft in Havelock, NE until the stock market crash that fall. With that in mind he offered his aircraft fabrication experience to the Boeing Company in Seattle. He was hired and helped set up the B-29 bomber factory in Renton where he was eventually made a foreman of millwrights. When the war ended Bill decided to go back into radiator repair and sought a location in the developing Columbia Basin. He settled on Ephrata and bought a house and property there in January of 1946. He built a building adjacent to the house and started Correll Radiator Service. Over the years he went into partnership with Dallas Groff and the business developed into Sun City Auto Supply.
Bill and Margie helped to start the Ephrata First Baptist Church in 1947 and continued a very active involvement there for the rest of their lives. Bill retired from selling auto parts in 1975, but soon went back to work as a farm hand for Murray Van Dyke of Quincy. Bill loved being back in farming after a 60 year absence and enjoyed working for Murray for several years before fully retiring in his 80's. Over the years Bill enjoyed many hobbies including photography, fishing, painting, woodworking, giant walnut propagation, reading, watching the Mariners and eventually maintaining a weekly blog on the Internet where he had his own website: http://www.suncityephrata.com/wp/?cat=4
He wrote a couple of books and received two patents one for a radiator funnel in the 1950's and another for a folding saw horse in the 1970's. He had a very active and inquisitive mind and an adventurous spirit which he passed on to his children. In his later years he continued to live independently and was still able to drive or walk wherever he wanted to go. At the age of 95 he flew in his son's ultralight powered parachute. In 2005 at the age of 97 he cruised to Alaska with over 20 family members. In 2006 he flew in a small plane with his two sons to his 80th high school reunion in Nebraska. And just this past May on his 100th birthday he got to throw out the first pitch at Safeco field becoming the "Ancient Mariner". In June of this year Bill went up for his final airplane ride in a WWII Boeing B-17 bomber.
Bill was preceded in death in 2002 by his wife of 72 years Margie. He is survived by one brother Ivan Correll of North Carolina, a sister-in-law and brother-in-law Maxine and Gerald French of Ellensburg, a brother-in-law Clifford Boice of California, a daughter Doris Matlock of Soap Lake, a son and daughter-in-law Gary and Karen Correll of Nine Mile Falls, WA, a daughter and son-in-law Sue and Paul Barton of Beaverton, OR, and a son and daughter-in-law Bill and Debbie Correll of Ephrata. Bill also leaves 13 grandchildren and 22.5 great grandchildren numerous nieces, nephews and friends. Bill loved his Lord, his family, and a lifetime of friends.
So many people have shown kindness to Dad especially since Mom's death, and we thank you all so much. We miss you already Dad. A Celebration of Bill's life will be held at 1:00 pm Saturday October 4, at the Ephrata First Baptist Church, 327 C St SW, Ephrata, WA. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Bill's name to the Ephrata First Baptist Church.
