Coranelle Grace Mork

I recently asked my aunt Betsy to dig up some information about my Grandma Corky(Coranelle). I have my memories of my Grandma, but wanted to know a bit more about her past and childhood. It will be good to know in order to tell Coranelle someday. I find the information really interesting and I appreiciate Betsy writing to me about her mom and dad. I thought that some of Grandma Corky's children, grandchildren, and friends might find this information interesting too. So, here is some of the information that Betsy found and remembered and shared with me:

The early part:

Coranelle born in Iowa, July 22, 1920, to Archibald "Tud" and Pearl. Her father had graduated from CU with a degree in Engineering and went to work in 1915 in Casapalca, Peru, at a copper mine as a mining engineer. (In travelling back and forth to the US at one point he met Pearl on board ship. She was travelling to Peru as a Methodist missionary. I'm not sure exactly what year they met.) Later, James "Jimmy", mom's brother was born in July 19, 1923 in La Arroya, Peru. They later moved to Portrerillos, Chile, 1926. The main company Tud worked for was called Anaconda Copper. When Mom became High school age, (1936 ?), she was sent by her parents to Boulder to live with her aunt, Tud's sister, Elizabeth, ("Aunt Tit"), in order to attend Boulder High School. Jimmy was also sent back to Boulder for high school. Coranelle was in the first graduating class of Boulder High School, 1938.

From the obituary:

Coranellle "Corky" age 81, a longtime Estes Park resident, died at Longmont United Hospital on Tuesday, April 2, 2002.

She graduated from Boulder High School in 1938 and from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1942 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology.

She married Holger "Muns" on July 16, 1944 in Boulder. She and her husband lived in many places while raising their children. They lived in Okinawa, 1952-1953, Kodiak, Alaska from 1954 to 56, London, England from 1956 to 1962, Charleston, SC from 1962 - 1970; and Norfolk, VA from 1970 to 1976.

In 1976 the couple moved to Estes Park following Muns' retirement. Muns died in 1996.

While in Estes Park, Corky Munson was a member of the PEO Chapter AV, and a member of the Friends of the Library. She worked at the YMCA of the Rockies from 1977 to 1982. She was a Red Cross volunteer and a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority at the University of Colorado. She was also a member of St. Bartholome'ws Episcopal Church in Estes Park.

In 1999 she moved to Merrill Gardens Retirement Center in Loveland where she lived until her death.

A Highlight: When Mom and Dad met during the war in Denver, approx April 1944, Mom was still living at Aunt Tit's (Elizabeth Peebles). Her parents were still in Chile. Mom and Dad fell in love and planned to get married in July. Mom wrote to tell her parents about it and they sent a telegram back to her telling her to wait. They didn't receive the telegram until after they had been married!