Andre “Rip” Corley of Whitesboro, Texas, died of heart failure at his home on Sept. 22.
Corley was born Nov. 15, 1946, in Lubbock and grew up in Hereford, Texas, before graduating from high school in Rocky Ford, Colo. He received his bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., and then moved to Dallas where he worked as a nurse and EMT. He was awarded the Citizen’s Merit Award by the Dallas Police Department in 1972 for voluntarily working to save the life of a police office injured in an accident in the line of duty.
Corley later received his master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington, began a private practice and published “The Final Closet: The Gay Parents’ Guide to Coming Out to Their Children.”
He was a founding member of the Cathedral of Hope and served on the church’s board of directors for several years.
Corley also began a specialized program, with his sister Deborah, for addiction treatment in psychiatric hospitals. In 1996 he and his sister opened Sante Center for Healing, a residential treatment center in Argyle, Texas.
Corley enjoyed cooking and gardening, and was working on his second book.
He is survived by his life partner of 32 years, George W. Straw Jr. of Whitesboro; his mother and father, Marvel E. and Clifton D. Corley of Whitesboro; his brother, Clifton D. Corley Jr. of Lamar, Colo.; and his sister, Deborah Corley of Little Elm, Texas.
A memorial service for friends and family will be held at Cathedral of Hope, 5910 Cedar Springs Road in Dallas at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 30. Memorials may be made in Corley’s name to the Hope for Peace and Justice Ministries, Cathedral of Hope, P. O. Box 35466, Dallas, TX. 75235.
Arrangements are under the direction of Huff Funeral Home in Whitesboro.
Jerry “Scott” Lawson, 38, died on Aug. 23 in Church Hill, Tenn., where he had lived since leaving Dallas in 2001.
Lawson lived in Dallas for a more than a decade in the 1990s. He returned to his home state in 2001 where he was the operator of Premier Hair Salon for many years.
Lawson was born on March 16, 1969, in Sullivan County, Tenn. He attended Liberty University and the University of Tennessee.
He is survived by his mother, Jackie Wallace Lawson, who was by his side when he died. He is also survived by his father, Jerry E. Lawson; stepmother, Gail Lawson; three sisters, a brother and his friends and family in Dallas, including his beloved “Aunt Madge.”
A memorial service was held in Tennessee.
Memorials can be made to any Humane Society in his name.
Patrick Louis Kurtz, 51, a native of Victoria, Texas, died at his home in Dallas in the early morning hours of Sept. 20.
Kurtz was born April 17, 1956 to Edward and Gussie Opela Kurtz. He was a graduate of St. Joseph High School in Victoria where he lived for the first 30 years of his life before moving to Dallas, where he worked as an interior designer and horticulturalist. He had a love of beautiful things and of nature. He was fiercely loyal to his countless friends and generous to a fault, and he will be missed by those who knew and loved him.
He is survived by his parents; his sister, Jeanette Kurtz Henke, and her husband, Bob, of Hallettsville Texas; and his long-time companion, partner and loving friend, Bruce Wiggs of Dallas.
Services are being handled by Forest Lawn Funeral Home, 3204 Fairmount St., in Dallas (telephone: 214-953-0363, online at www.dallasforestlawn.com).
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 28, 2007