Thomas Orin Corzine was born September 6, 1942 to Chester and Eilene
(Thomas) Corzine in Canyon, TX. He went to be with the Lord following a
brief illness on June 1, 2023.
As a child, Tom's family moved near
Hoehne, CO. Tom graduated from Hoehne High School in 1960 with 10 other
students in his class. He enjoyed telling the story of putting tacks in
the teacher's chair. After high school he attended CSU in Fort Collins,
and later Adams State College in Alamosa. It was there that he met
Charlotte O'Bannon, the mother of his three children. After marrying,
they made their home in Hoehne. A few years later they moved to the San
Luis Valley with their sons, Todd and Clay. After moving to the valley,
they were blessed with their daughter Lacy and quickly became involved
with many community activities. While the children were young, the
family was very active with Little Britches Rodeo and the 4H Riding
Club.
In October 1996, Tom came to a roping in Enid, Oklahoma where
he met Cathy Rusch. Tom and Cathy were then married on July 2, 1997. Tom
loved to be silly, and always referred to his beloved wife as Leroy. He
also liked to tease Cathy that she was "blonde" as he said, and even
convinced her that his favorite Bordier Collie, Howie, could tell
colors. When checking cattle, Tom would tell Howie to go get the black
cow, or the brown cow. It wasn't until much later that Cathy realized
Howie couldn't tell colors, but instead he was chasing the cow that was
separated from the herd. Tom claimed that one of his greatest talents
was eating, and he always enjoyed the many delicious meals that Cathy
prepared for him. Although his favorite thing might have been pie, and
he was even known to have this for breakfast.
Throughout his life,
Tom served the community on many different committees. Two of the boards
he spent time on were the Center School Board and the Rio Grande Sub
District 1 Water Board. Tom was a great horse trainer and could always
tell a good horse. He enjoyed telling about the many horses he owned and
trained over his lifetime. He always picked clever names for his
horses, including Cher for the mare with pretty legs, Julio for the colt
born in July, and Rusch for a colt born on Cathy's birthday. Tom spent
most of his life deriving great pleasure from his ranch and cattle
operation in Colorado. Tom loved team roping, and he devoted much time
to practicing and competing in this event. One of the great highlights
of team roping was when he and son, Clay won the USTRC National Champion
Shootout in 2015. He also enjoyed competing with son, Todd in century
roping where the header and heelers age had to add up to at least 100.
Tom
deeply loved his family and the Lord. He was always anxious to talk
about his kids, grandkids and great-grands, and all that they had going
on in life as well as their accomplishments. He was so proud of his
family. In 2017 Tom and Cathy moved to Fairview, OK. full time as they
both needed to be on oxygen in Colorado, and they felt living at lower
altitude was the best solution. On July 2, 2022 Tom and Cathy celebrated
their 25th wedding anniversary. Then two months later, on September
6th, Tom had a big surprise party for his 80th birthday with family and
friends coming from near and far. Here at the end of his life, Tom spent
much time reading his Bible and watching the old westerns on TV. Last
week before his passing, Kelly Wahl took Tom out to the pasture to see
his cattle. Against Kelly's good advice, Tom climbed over the 5 wire
barbed fence and he walked through his herd, as if he knew this would be
the last time.
Tom is survived by his wife Cathy; sister Laura Lee
Conley; children Todd Corzine and wife Lori of Olathe, CO, Clay Corzine
and wife Lisa of Center, CO., James Fuzzell and wife Lisa of Fairview,
OK and Ragen Pepper and husband Justin of Monte Vista, CO; 9
grandchildren, Bryce Corzine, Samantha Corzine, Chet (Shaye) Corzine,
Blake (Aftynne) Corzine, Kamryn Corzine, Hayden Johnson, Rusch Pepper,
Wesley Pepper and Bennett Pepper; 5 great-grandchildren Trinity, Colt,
Corbin, Cordell and Olivia. Tom will be forever missed by many family
members and friends.
Tom was preceded in death by his parents, and daughter Lacy Johnson.
A
funeral service will be held at 1:00 pm on Thursday June 8, 2023 at the
Rogers Family Mortuary in Monte Vista. Interment will follow services
in the Monte Vista Cemetery. To express condolences, please visit
www.rogersfunerals.com
Rogers Family Mortuary in Monte Vista is in care of the arrangements.
