Corkum, Earl Robert- age 84 of Enfield passed away peacefully with his family at home on December 30th, 2015. A husband, a father, grandfather, brother and friend was born in Brooklyn, Queens County in 1931.
As a young boy and into his teens he worked on the family farm and fished with his father, Steadman. As a teenager he moved to Halifax to work and it was there that he met the love of his life Lorraine (Muise) Corkum. Five years later in 1954, they were married at Saint Bernard’s Church in Enfield then settled into married life in Oldham where they raised one son and four daughters.
Earl was never too busy to talk. He was the kind of person that would not hesitate to give you the shirt off his back. He was a no frills kind of guy and enjoyed the simple things in life. He had a very calm demeanor. Some would even say he had the patience of a saint.
Earl worked hard for 36 years driving an oil truck, keeping everyone fueled up with heating oil! He had an incredible work ethic. His work day was never over until the job was done.
When he retired, his favorite pastime was collecting recyclables and hanging out with the gang at Tim Hortons.
For the last 15 years Earl lived with COPD and through all the ups and downs Earl still had a positive outlook on life and quite the sense of humor. When you asked him how you are doing he would usually say, “I am only going to live till I die”. In the past few years Earl found comfort in developing a personal relationship with God.
In Earl’s final days and hours, it wasn’t the stuff that he did or collected that was important to him. What was important to him was to tell everyone how much he loved them especially his wife, his children and his grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife, Lorraine; son, Bob (Noreen); daughters, Donna Fraser, Shelly O’Neil (Kevin), Terry Lee Brooking (Tony) and Cheryl Corkum (Russell); Grandchildren, Steven, Natacha, David, Amanda, Scott, Pat, Shane, Al, and Karley; great-grandchildren, Benjamin, Geneviève, Emma, Rhyley, Carmen, Kaitlyn, Jonathan, Alex and Jaxson; along with Earl’s sister, Geneverah Benoit (Nebbie).
A special thank you to his granddaughter, Natacha, and to all of the VON and palliative care staff who cared for him. A special thank you to his Church family at Elmsdale Baptist Church for the love and support they gave him.
A Celebration of Life Service was held at Elmsdale Baptist Church, Saturday January 2, 2016 at 2pm.
Cremation has taken place under the care and direction of Arimathea Funeral Cooperative, Upper Musquodoboit and a private burial will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the NS Lung Association would be greatly appreciated.
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