William Lawrence Corley Sr

A graveside service for Colonel William (Bill) Lawrence Corley, Sr. (United States Army retired) will be held at Westover Memorial Park Cemetery at 11:00 am on January 26, 2024 in Augusta, Georgia.

Bill was born August 29, 1932 to Thomas Benton Corley and Sara Way and passed away peacefully at his home in Boca Raton, Florida on January 6, 2024.

He is survived by his sister, Sara E. (Liz) Corley, sons William L. Corley, Jr. (Melissa), John T. Corley (Fran), Chris D. Corley, three granddaughters and companion Mary Lou Stevenson.

Bill was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia. Upon graduation from Richmond Academy he attended Georgia Institute of Technology earning three engineering degrees. While at Tech, he was a member of the Army ROTC. After graduation he entered the Army as a 2nd Lieutenant. While in the Army he quickly found his passion of flying fixed and rotary wing aircraft. During his career he flew more than 70 different types of aircraft. Serving in the Korean and Viet Nam wars Bill was a helicopter pilot with many successful missions. He was the first U.S. Army aviator to attend the Royal Airforce Empire Test Pilots School for rotary wing aircraft in Farnborough, England. He and his family were stationed all over the contiguous United States and England. After 22 years of service to this great country and ascending to the rank of Colonel he decided to retire while at his last tour stop at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Upon leaving the Army he opened a highly successful Real Estate Brokerage in Northern Virginia, Maryland and District of Columbia. While living in Arlington, Virginia he also bought a home in Boca Raton, Florida to eventually transition to full-time residence there. Bill loved taking bike trips around the world, golf, scuba diving, fishing and his true passion of flying his planes. Between his military career and civilian life, he enjoyed 63 years of flying. His golf buddies gave him the nickname, “the Eveready bunny,” as he constantly was on the move. Bill had unlimited ways of expressing his love to family and friends and will be sorely missed by all.

The family would like to invite friends to gather for a reception following the service from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm at Church of the Holy Comforter, 473 Fury’s Ferry Road, Martinez, Georgia.

If so desired, in lieu of flowers. memorials may be made to The American Cancer Society or the charity of your choice.