Marion E. "Corky" Elliott

Marion Eugene “Corky” Elliott, 72, entered into rest peacefully February 16, 2015, at his home in Wenatchee, WA. Corky was born September 3, 1942, in Torrance, CA to Gene and Bonnie (Burge) Elliott. They moved to Wenatchee in 1947, where he began elementary school at Lewis and Clark, before moving to Sunnyslope, where he attended grade school and junior high. He made many close Sunnyslope friends that he kept in contact with up until his passing. He always remembered fondly riding his bicycle from his home in Sunnyslope to work at his dad’s station, 9th Street Service, at age 14, which sparked his lifelong interest in cars. He graduated from Wenatchee High School in 1960, and joined the Navy in October of that year. In the Navy, Cork was a radioman and was honorably discharged in October 1964. Cork and his wife of 49 years, Carleen Scroggie, were married November 26, 1965. He was baptized and became a member of the Sunnyslope Brethren Church in 1966. Cork and Carleen opened their own service station, “Corky’s Cut Rate” on the corner of Orondo and Washington Streets in the fall of 1966. While running the service station, he began taking a class a quarter at Wenatchee Valley College. In March 1970, he sold the service station and began WVC full time. He then went on to graduate from Central Washington University and got his MSW at Portland State University in May of 1975. During this time, son, Mike, was born in Wenatchee (1970); Steve in Ellensburg (1973); and daughter, Sydni, in Portland (1975). He and his family moved to Boise, ID in August 1975, where he worked as a school social worker for the Boise School District for 13 years. Daughter, Bethany, was born in 1982 in Boise. Corky became a member of Hyde Park Mennonite Church in Boise in 1979, and his membership remains there at this time. Having missed his service station days, he returned to Wenatchee in fall of 1989 to open a Big O Tire Store. After three years, Cork went back into social work for the Entiat School District as counselor, where he retired in 2008. Cork thoroughly enjoyed retirement, spending time in his shop working on his cars, going to coffee every morning with friends and cruising the Ave. Cork and Carleen enjoyed several road trips, including Texas, California, Washington/Oregon Coast, Yellowstone, Kansas, British Columbia, and many roads less traveled. Vacation to Chicago by Amtrak was a highlight. His favorite hobby and passion was old cars, particularly Fords. Cork has been a longtime member of Wenatchee Valley Cruisers Car Club. He loved having two, three or even more cars to work on at any given time, with each always being a work in progress. He was frequently seen cruising the Ave., driving his green 1935 Ford Sedan. Another passion was landscaping, for which he had an excellent eye for landscape design and a knack for finding the perfect placement of beautiful rocks and trees. Cork loved all “oldies” music, with Roy Orbison being his all time favorite. He looked forward to hosting the W.H.S. Gathering of Friends each summer for the last seven years, and organizing a couple Sunnyslope School reunions. Above all of these, family was most important to him, never missing an opportunity to tell them he loved them or was proud of them. After his ALS diagnosis in Spring of 2013, his strong faith helped Cork keep a positive attitude and allowed him to continue to enjoy daily activities to the best of his ability. He never complained about his illness and made caring for him very easy. His weekday morning time with the Starbuck “coffee guys” was what he looked forward to each day. He rarely missed Friday nights at Hot Rod Cafe with the “car guys”. Cork was preceded in death by his parents, Gene and Bonnie Elliott; grandparents, Marion and Nova Burge; infant son, Adam Tyler; father-in-law, Carl Scroggie; and brother-in-law, Dan Scroggie. Surviving are his wife, Carleen; sons, Mike of Wenatchee, and Steve of Austin, TX; daughters, Sydni Elliott (James) Swanda of Boise, ID, and Bethany (Jeremiah) Green of Wenatchee; four grandchildren, Chase Elliott, Bonnie and Jedediah Green and newborn, Kellyn Swanda; sister and brother-in-law, Katie and Rick Wenning; mother-in-law, Gertrude Scroggie; brothers-in-law, Bill Scroggie and Jan Luebber; sisters-in-law, Fern Luebber and Diane King; and many nieces, nephews and cousins, who all loved him very much. Cork will be greatly missed by the many people who knew him and whose lives he touched. Memorial Service will be held on Friday, February 27, 2015, at 2:00 p.m. at Eastmont Baptist Church, S.E. 4th and Kentucky in East Wenatchee. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Wounded Warriors Project, P.O. Box 758512, Topeka, KS 66675-8512; or Virginia Mason Foundation ALS Clinic, P.O. Box 1930, Mail Stop D1-MF, Seattle, WA 98111. Please express your thoughts and memories on the online guestbook at jonesjonesbetts.com. Arrangements by Jones & Jones~Betts Funeral Home, Wenatchee.

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Marion E. "Corky" Elliott

September 3, 1942 - February 16, 2015