Paul Corless, Sr.

Paul Corless,Sr., also known as Grandpap or GrandPaul, passed away unexpectedly on 11/23/2015. Born 7/18/1937 in Altoona, Pennsylvania to Joseph and Pauline (Schmidthammer) Corless. He graduated from South Fayette Township High School and California University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Industrial Arts. He married Marcia Peters who preceded him in death and they had two sons, P.J. and Bryan. He worked for US Steele, Seneca Wire and Florida Wire and Cable. Although he was in the US Army (Second Armored Calvary) stationed in Bamburg, Germany for only two years, he shared a lifetime of memories from his experiences. In 1982 he moved his family to Orange Park. In 1987 he started Hardware Sales and worked with his son Bryan. He could fix almost everything. He was a proud ORIGINAL season ticket holder for the Jaguars, but some wonder if he was a secret Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Once, he made grandson Trent sit in time-out for not cheering the Jags. He was a good sport even though his wife worked for University of Florida and both sons attended Florida State University. He was generous and had a soft spot for animals (just not squirrels). He bought bunny food for the wild rabbits in the backyard, babysat his “granddogs” Wicket and Jake, and cared many years for “kitty,” the tripod cat. He even covertly took food to the safe animal shelter. He was a thrill seeker; zip lined in his 70’s and even rode the sling shot. He adored riding roller coasters and was planning on parasailing on his next birthday and parachuting on his 80th! Paul was extremely punctual. He called his wife’s office every day at 4 pm. You could set your watch to his phone call. He was also appreciated for his honesty and candor. Paul loved his grandkids and babysat the triplets when they were young. However, he was fired when one time when he fell asleep and grandson Will filled the toilet with toys and flushed! One Halloween, GrandPap surprised the kids by dressing up as an old woman. He always enjoyed watching grandkids in the pool or attending their events. He always said that granddaughter Mallory had his eyes and everyone said that she must be adopted (Everyone but her had blue)! Paul appreciated the simple pleasures in life: silly little ditties or a Karen Carpenter song, fluffy comforters, good pillows, boats, “dad” tennis shoes, Santioni’s chicken parmesan, enchiladas, oysters, and French onion soup. He was active and loved water skiing, “scallop”, camping and hockey (playing on a senior skates team in his 40’s). He was a great story teller, whether from his time in the military, the time spent working on the farm when he was growing up or tales about his boys. He loved planning surprises, corvettes, and his sweet @$$ truck! He had many –isms and daughter-in-law, Melissa always said she would write them down and peddle his book. He loved traveling and on his first pleasure cruise was amazed that the ship didn’t rock like his first experience, which was a troop ship to Germany. In 2007, he married Jane Allen and added to his family. It was never a matter of his or hers, but always “OURS”! He took great joy in the fact his blended family got along so well. He retired in 2011 and enjoyed traveling. He was one of the first in the family to embrace technology with the purchase of a Kindle that he then upgraded to a tablet. He was a TV watcher and always had on ESPN, Fox News or Ellen. He was in tune with politics and one of the big stressors in his life was Barack Obama! Bryan, his son, summed it up by saying, “You couldn’t have asked for a better dad. I didn’t realize how hard he worked doing things for us, until I had my own son.” Predeceased by his first wife Marcia, Paul is survived by wife, Jane, sons, PJ (Polly) and Bryan (Melissa), Orange Park, Gerick Allen, Boonsboro, MD, his “favorite” daughter Katherine Allen, Live Oak, grandchildren, Nathan, Will, Mallory, and Halle Corless, and Gerick Jr., Trent, and Chase Allen, “adopted brother” Dave Troyer, and numerous friends and relatives. Paul will be deeply missed by his family, friends and the community. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Paul Corless’ name to the Wounded Warrior Project, 4899 Belfort Rd., Suite 300, Jacksonville, FL 32256 or the SAFE Animal shelter2913 CR 220, Middleburg, FL 32068. A memorial service will be held at 3:00 pm Monday, November 30, 2015 in the Broadus-Raines Chapel with Pastor Ryan Hall officiating. There will be a family and friends gathering time from 1:00 pm until service time.