Raymond Miller McCorkle (1932 – 2022)

Raymond Miller McCorkle, 90, departed this life on December 4, 2022, as a resident of Lynn Care Center, Front Royal, VA. He went on to join the Love of his Life, ‘Doris Jane’, his wife of 71 years.

Raymond Miller McCorkle

Born November 16, 1932, he was the son of Oscar Sanford and Hattie Vanettha McCorkle from Charlotte, NC.

Ray, known by many, served in the United States Army from 1946-1949. He was stationed at Ft. Belvior, VA. He served as a Medical Supply Specialist with the 707 1st Medical Group.

He worked for Giant Food as a Journeyman Meat Cutter in Herndon, Chantilly, and Fairfax, VA, and finally retired from the store in Warrenton, VA. Before that, he worked at Grimsley’s Market in the 1960s and drove a school bus part-time for John S. Mosby Academy. Many evenings spending his time with another talent, sign painting, anything from billboards along Rt. 522, or painting race cars for Winchester Speedway. He also created and painted the sign for John S. Mosby Academy that sat at 15th Street.

He was a member of the area Odd Fellows IOOF Club for over 50 years, serving as Treasurer/Secretary. Ray was as a member of Marlow Heights Baptist Church and served as a Deacon and Sunday School Superintendent for several years. Ray was a great man of Faith and served his community well, and was a caring Family Man.

Racing being his most prized hobby, he raced  Go-Karts on the weekends early in his life at the local tracks.

He is preceded in death by his wife, Doris J. McCorkle; a son, Jerry Wayne McCorkle; and daughter, Karen Sue Cole. He was also preceded by his brothers, Elmer McCorkle, Karl McCorkle, Paul McCorkle, and Sidney McCorkle, and one sister, Cora Lee Griffin, all of Charlotte, North Carolina.

He has one surviving brother, Larry Dean McCorkle, and his wife, Judy, in Huntersville, N.C. He’s also survived by a son, Ken McCorkle of Winchester, VA; daughter, Lorie Thurston of Inwood, WV; grandsons, Aaron McCorkle, Joseph McCorkle, and wife Kelli, Bradley Marcey, Jonathan Cole, and wife Lindsay, Joshua Cole and wife Chelsea, Jerry Wayne McCorkle II, and Jeremy McCorkle; granddaughters, Jenny McCorkle, Desiree Marcey, and Stephanie Lillard and husband Brian; great-grandsons, Julian Marcey, Elijah McCorkle, and Brayden Marcey; great-granddaughters, Emaley Furr, Haley James, Jasmine Schuler, Madalyn Lillard, Makayla Lillard, Cierra Cole, Lydia Cole, and Breanna Marcey; two great-great-grandchildren, Azelea James and Liam Furr; many nieces and nephews in The Carolina’s, Virginia Georgia, and South Carolina; and his adopted children, Joy Baker of Bristow, VA, Donald Cline of Front Royal, VA, and Toni Reuter of Atlanta, GA.

Services will take place at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at Maddox Funeral Home, 105 W. Main St., Front Royal. Interment will follow in Shenandoah Memorial Park, on Front Royal Pike. Visitation one hour before the service.

The family asked that any donations be made to Marlow Heights Baptist Church, Front Royal, VA, or St. Jude Children’s Hospital.