Ray Corn

Francis Ray Corn, age 95, passed away at his home outside Beggs, OK, August 17. Ray was born at the family farm in Oskaloosa, KS, to Ray R.and Edith (Reese) Corn, the second of four children. He was proceeded in death by his wife, Josephine (Jodie Walker) Corn of 62 years; his parents; a younger sister and brother, and a niece. Survivors include his two daughters, Dorothy and her husband Dr. Victor Durrance of Beggs; and Sharon and her husband Tim Martin of Beggs; six grandchildren including Lorrie (Morrison) and her husband Bobby Fuqua of Beggs, OK.; 13 great-grandchildren including Rick Ballard and Caleb Fuqua of Beggs; two great-great grandchildren; Ray’s 97-year-old brother George D. Corn of Lawrence, KS; seven nieces and numerous great-nieces and nephews. Ray grew up in Lawrence, KS where his dad was a deputy sheriff and his mother owned a beauty shop. Ray accepted Christ as his Savior as a teenager at a tent revival. The family moved to Independence KS about 1932. He and Jodie graduated from Independence High School in the spring of 1934. They married in December of 1934 while attending Chillicothe Business College in Chillicothe, MO. They moved to Tulsa, OK, in 1937 where Ray was employed as a bookkeeper at Mid-Continent Oil Company and later British American Petroleum Company; then as a salesman for Rudy’s Venetian Blinds, and Carl Leonard Insurance Co. From 1946-1952 Ray owned a 700-acre ranch in Little Lost River Valley near Howe, ID, where Dorothy and Sharon attended a one-room schoolhouse. The Corn family moved back to Tulsa and Ray became part-owner of Consolidated Forwarding Company with terminals in Tulsa, Enid, and Oklahoma City. Jodie was employed with Exxon Oil Company. In 1965 Ray and Jodie moved to Oklahoma City for a couple of years and then on to Houston, TX where Ray founded Can-Do Drayage Company, an intra-Houston freight company, for about ten years. Jodie retired from Exxon after 30 years of service and Ray sold his business. They returned to Oklahoma in 1979 to a small farm west of Beggs with a variety of animals and a large garden. They attended the Beggs United Methodist Church where Ray was baptized. He was active in the Discipleship Study with Pastor Ben Williams. Ray and Jodie donated their bodies to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. A Memorial Service will be held for Ray Saturday, August 29 at 11 o’clock a.m. at the First Assembly of God Church in Beggs. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to SolAmor Hospice, 222 S. 32nd St, Muskogee, OK 74401.

Ray Corn

February 8, 1914 - August 17, 2009