OF CHILDHOOD FADING – A TRIBUTE TO BILL CORBIN

By Marshall McClung
Graham Star Correspondent

With the passing of each person I knew as a young child, I feel a part of my childhood fading away.  Such was the case with the passing of Bill Corbin last week.  I was a constant visitor to their home in the Atoah community where I was born and grew up.   Their oldest son Billy and I were childhood friends and did most of the dumb and dangerous things country boys do growing up.  I was treated by Bill and his wife Eloise just like I was one of their kids, whatever they ate, I ate.  They operated a grocery store in earlier years.  If they gave their kids a treat from the store, I was given a treat too.  Although my hair has long since turned from “boyhood brown” to “geezer grey”, I still remember those things.  One does not forget people who were nice to them as a child, ever.

Most people probably know Bill through the produce stand he and his family operated at Five Points.  Bill continued to operate the business until his death, long past the time that he was actually able to due to his health.  I suspect that this was more from a social aspect rather than a financial one.  Bill loved to meet and talk to his customers.  A story about their business titled “The Produce People” appeared in the August 17, 1995 issue of The Graham Star.  Bill gave up keeping chickens at home only when he was no longer able to walk over and feed them.

Bill served his country well.  He saw combat with the U.S. Army’s 102^nd Infantry Division.  He was in the Battle of the Bulge and endured eighteen degree below zero temperatures and knee deep snow.  Bill was from the “Greatest Generation” as described by Tom Brokaw, and worked all his life, rather than expect someone to support him.  That seems to be more of a rarity these days.

With the passing of Bill Corbin, another small part of my childhood also fades away.