I got to know Jerry Corbran in the ‘90s. I was new to Euclid
There are people in life that are like the flames of a fire. They are spectacular, drawing others to them and lighting more flames until you have a conflagration. They burn hot and fast serving their immediate purpose, but then burn out.
There are others in life who are hot coals. They are the flame-starters. Jerry Corbran was a flame starter. For me, he was my touchstone, listening, advising, helping out at a moment’s notice.
If greatness is measured by one’s accomplishments in life, then no, Jerry probably wasn’t so great. But if true greatness is, as I believe, measured by one’s faithfulness in life, then Jerry Corbran was one of the greatest men I have ever known. He was faithful to his God and to himself, to his family and to his friends, to his country and to his community.
Jerry fell asleep Sunday, Jan 13th at the age of 87. His passing is the end of an era. He now awaits the return of his lord. Ours was a friendship that spanned nearly 20 years, though I must admit, he was a better friend to me than I was to him.
There is a poem that epitomizes the life of Jerry Corbran. It is “The Bridge Builder” by Will Allen Dromgoole….
An old man, going a lone highway,
Came at evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way’
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide –
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.”
I shall sorely miss Jerry’s counsel and his patience, but I am thankful he counted me as a friend and I am grateful for the bridge he built for me. He was after all, an engineer!
Visitation will be from 2-4 and 6-8 Thurs Jan 17 at the Corrigan-Deighton Funeral Home, 21900 Euclid Ave. Mass will be celebrated Fri at Sts Robert & William on E.260th.
