http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/philly/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=139897451
JAMES JOSEPH CORR
JAMES JOSEPH, born April 22, 1927, age 82, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family and dedicated health care aide, Niki on Thursday, February 18, 2010.
Born and raised in New York City the oldest child of Irish immigrants, Jim attended Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx. After serving in the Military in WW II he graduated from Manhattan College as an electrical engineer. Jim began his successful career in Aerospace Engineering as a parts delivery boy for a TV repair shop in Manhattan.
His pioneering career in electronics paralleled the advancement in television and imaging technology. Jim worked at RCA-GE for over four decades. In the 1960′s he was one of the project managers on the successful Ranger Space Missions 7, 8 and 9 to the moon. These spacecraft took the first close up pictures of the lunar surface. The success of the Ranger projects led to the eventual landing of a man on the moon during the Apollo Space Missions. Jim, a man of integrity, received top secret clearance and helped design and launch the first surveillance and weather satellites, such as TIROS, for the US government. For his contributions to the space program from 1965 through 1975, he was awarded “The Pioneer in Space Award” by the U.S. Air Force.
Jim was a true patriot and enlisted in the Army-Air Force the day after his 18th birthday. In a characteristic display of his commitment, ingenuity and humor, Jimmy being “thin as a rail” ate 10 lbs. of bananas in order to secure his acceptance into the U.S. Military. As the war wound down, Jim served as a Sergeant in the U.S. occupation troops administering the prisoner of war camps in Southern France.
In his boyhood Jim found much joy and pleasure roaming the river banks of the Harlem, East and Hudson Rivers, in search of a good fishing perch. Surf fishing at Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island, NJ became one of his passions. His love of the lighthouse and the island was passed on to all of his children and grandchildren. Jim loved to be outdoors and this was evident in all of his pastimes. He was a constant gardener and grew the most delicious and juicy Jersey tomatoes and the crispest bulging spring red radishes. He planted scores of trees at each of his homes. The height that these trees have grown over the years reflects the height and depth of his values and continuous personal growth.
Yearly, he tramped through the snows of the Pine Barrens hunting for deer. The deer sometimes eluded him but he always found peace, tranquility and restoration in nature. He loved the Pine Barrens as do his children. For many years each summer he took his sons on extended camping trips though out the U.S. and Canada. Jim loved and respected the Earth. It was fitting that the day of his birth, April 22 and the birthday of his first child and daughter was designated Earth Day.
Dad played a good hand of poker and got together monthly with the guys. He also was an avid bridge player and played weekly with his wife and their friends.
Jim’s workbench was loaded with TV tubes, soldering irons, circuit boards, vises and testing gear; it was a place of technical marvel! Dad was known through-out the community as the “go to fix it man.” There was always a TV, washing machine or car under Dad’s care. Jim was a well read History buff and enjoyed sharing his wealth of historic knowledge. He was particularly proud of his Irish ancestry and the traditions of fighting and working towards independence and democracy that were dominant in his family heritage.
He was devoted to the Catholic Church and his religious beliefs. James was married to Jacqueline Perry Corr for 46 years. He was a loyal husband and dedicated provider for his family of nine children. With his dry sense of humor, fighting spirit, will and determination, Jim turned most obstacles into opportunities for applying ingenuity, learning new things and developing compassion and kindness.
Although in his last years he struggled with several physical disabilities, he managed these challenges with admirable calm and grace. We all want you to recognize and cherish your own happiness in memory of our kind-hearted and fearless father, Jim. Dad leaves two sisters, Maureen Corr and Kathleen Carr; nine children and their families. Kathleen Kavarra Corr of Springdale,
Published in Philadelphia Inquirer & Philadelphia Daily News on February 21, 2010 Print print
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Corr, James Joseph [MC???? RIP]
Guestbook: http://tinyurl.com/ylfwgs4
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http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/20100225_James_Joseph_Corr__82_engineering_pioneer.html
Posted on Thu, Feb. 25, 2010
James Joseph Corr, 82,engineering pioneer
By Claudia Vargas
Inquirer Staff Writer
James Joseph Corr, 82, of Mount Laurel, a pioneering engineer in the development and testing of satellites, died of aspiration pneumonia Feb. 18 at Virtua Marlton.
As a 9-year-old boy during the Depression, Mr. Corr started working as a delivery boy for a TV repair shop in New York City, his daughter Kathleen Kavarra said. He quickly developed a talent for fixing electronics, and by the time he was nearing graduation at Cardinal Hayes High School in the city, he was the shop’s main TV repairman.
His work with TVs led him to a successful career as an electrical engineer at RCA Corp. in Camden.
“As an engineer, he had to look at what could go wrong” in order to build something the right way, his daughter said. After almost 10 years of fixing electronics, he pretty much knew what basic wiring errors to avoid.
Mr. Corr went to work at RCA with a bunch of young engineers the company hired in 1951, yet he stood out right away, former colleagues said.
“He was a really dynamic person,” said Marvin Korff of Cherry Hill, who started at RCA with Mr. Corr.
Mr. Corr’s stamina and attention to detail suited him to intricate, long-term projects. His first big project in the late 1950s was working on the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System, Korff said.
Then he helped develop cameras for Ranger 7, the first Ranger mission to get pictures of the moon’s surface, his daughter said.
For his work on the Ranger and other missions between 1965 and 1975, Mr. Corr was awarded a space pioneer award through the National Geographic Data Center.
In the 1960s, he worked on one of the first weather satellites, the TIROS. In his home hangs a picture of Mr. Corr and his colleagues posing next to TIROS, and duplicates of close-ups of the moon taken by the Ranger missions.
Mr. Corr was very proud of his creations “because they worked,” his daughter recalled.
His work meant long hours, but Mr. Corr did it.
“It took a hell of a drive like Jim,” Korff said. “He was successful in getting those satellites out.”
For several years, Mr. Corr was in charge of testing units for every condition they might encounter on their way to or while in space, said Ken Long of Moorestown, a colleague in the 1970s and ’80s. Mr. Corr often traveled to California to give satellites a final test and see them launched, Long said.
He used his problem-solving skills long before encountering satellites.
When he turned 18 in April 1945, Mr. Corr wanted to join the Army and fight at the end of World War II, but he was lanky and thin.
“He knew if you were under the weight, they wouldn’t take you,” his daughter said.
To gain five pounds, Mr. Corr concocted a plan.
The morning before trying to enlist in the Army Air Force, he and a scrawny friend devoured dozens of bananas each. Some relatives recalled hearing that each man ate about five pounds each, but others say it was 10 pounds.
Regardless, Mr. Corr was heavy enough to gain acceptance and sent off to training. He worked in logistics, administering prisoner-of-war camps in southern France.
After the war, the Bronx native studied electrical engineering at Manhattan College and graduated in 1951, his daughter said.
Mr. Corr was taking classes toward his master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania, but when RCA offered a job, he took it right away and worked there until 1988.
In 1953, he married Jacqueline Perry, whom he had met at a dance the year before. She died in 1999.
In addition to his daughter Kathleen, Mr. Corr is survived by sons Thomas, James, Joseph, Francis, Matthew, Brendan, and Charles; daughter Jacqueline P. Corr Brantley; 15 grandchildren; and two sisters.
Friends may call from 6 to 9 p.m. today and from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at the Bradley Funeral Home, 601 Route 73, Marlton. A Funeral Mass will be said at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at St. John Neumann Church, 560 Walton Ave., Mount Laurel. Burial will be in Hillcrest Memorial Gardens, Fort Pierce, Fla.
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