Mrs. Wanda Lee Corley, 94, passed away in Florence, AL, on March 30, 2020. After loving family and friends for a long and satisfying life, her heart just wore out. But not before she impressed many caregivers with what a nice lady she was.
Mother always explained her faith as “child-like”. She was confident Jesus would welcome her to heaven where she would be reunited with her beloved Joe and hopefully be invited to sing in the heavenly choir.
Born in 1926, in Fairmont, WV, she was a lady of a different era. She was taught to wear hats and white gloves to church and to be gracious at all times. Modern behaviors often left her feeling that her mother would disapprove. She enjoyed cooking, sewing, and entertaining family and friends. She enjoyed painting, music, and flowers.
Joseph C. Corley was her intended husband from the age of 15. They graduated from Fairmont High School in 1943 and Joe immediately enlisted in the Army Air Corps. Wanda Lee went to Fairmont Business College to learn shorthand and typing. They were married March 22, 1944, before he deployed to the Pacific Theater with the Army Air Corps. It was a repeated joke at the 50th, 60th, and 70th wedding anniversaries that many had said at the time “it would never last”.
Once when visiting the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, TX, she objected when Joe was granted free admission as a World War II veteran. He had served with the 3rd Air Commando Group in the Philippines and Okinawa. She contended that those who waited on their loved ones also served and were “veterans”. It was agreed and she was granted well-deserved free admission as well.
After the war, Joe returned to Fairmont to attend WVU and Wanda Lee earned her PHT (Putting Hubby Through) as a legal secretary. Her routine was interrupted one day when a client shot and killed her employer as she typed in the anteroom. Seventy years later she got brief mention in an historical novel of that event.
Graduating in 1950, Joe accepted a position as a forester for a paper company in the timberlands of south Mississippi. They raised two boys, Chuck and Tim, on the Gulf Coast where all were active in Long Beach United Methodist Church. Wanda Lee directed the choir there for twenty-three years. After her family was grown, she had a career at the University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Park Campus, retiring in 1984 as executive secretary to the dean.
Hurricanes on the coast could be traumatic; Camille was challenging in their 40s but Katrina in their 70s was especially hard because of the widespread damage to the area. That, and the desire to be closer to at least one son, prompted moving to Florence in 2008 to be close to Tim and Jennie. Chuck and Linda live in Austin, TX – a larger and higher-traffic city. In Florence, Joe and Wanda Lee were members of Edgemont United Methodist Church until Joe’s death in 2016.
Wanda Lee is survived by her two sons and their wives, five grandchildren, and 8 (soon to be 9) great-grandchildren. The family would like to thank the many caregivers who so unselfishly cared for Wanda Lee in hospital, rehabilitation, and assisted living for the last several years – particularly her faithful companion Regina Urban. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Music Entertainment Fund or the Garden Fund at The Renaissance, 3275 County Rd 47, Florence, AL 35630.
