Robert E. Corrigan

Robert E. Corrigan, 76, of North Conway, NH, passed away on Friday July 30, 2021 at the Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME. The son of Harry E. and Nathalie (Conant) Corrigan, he was born in Westbrook, ME on February 15, 1945 and later moved to Shelburne, NH when he was six. He attended school in Gorham and graduated Valedictorian of the Class of 1963. He then attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1967 with a degree in English. From there, he immediately began teaching at Gorham High School from where he retired in 1999. After that, he went to work at the White Mountain Community College in Berlin.



Being a teacher of great expectations, he created the Senior Project, a capstone graduation requirement that persists to this day at GHS. Bob (AKA “Crash” from his college days) loved coaching basketball and baseball, as well as playing competitively into his fifties against his high school students. He was named by George H. W. Bush as the 88th Point of Light. In 1989, he was one of ten in the country to be named by Reader’s Digest as a Hero in Education. He was also a Shelburne Citizen of the Year.



An avid golfer for 40 years, on many weekends you’d find him puttering around on the golf course, his drive pushing him to play on par to that of his basketball skills, often stopping afterwards at the 19th hole to enjoy a ham sandwedge.



A lifelong puzzler, he enjoyed solving and creating logic problems and magic squares. He had a hobbit of making terrible puns, by golem -- a veritable war of the words. He was oft sought out for friendly chats as well as advice. Never one to miss an opportunity to connect with others, his kids learned at an early age that a quick trip to the store would be a brave new world of multiple conversations with his current and former students encountered along the way.



In retirement he found a second home in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, enjoying an idyllic pace of life among the flamingos that had previously haunted his home in the hamlet of Shelburne.



Family includes his wife of 54 years, Jacquelyn (Bowler) Corrigan of North Conway, NH; children Gregory Corrigan of Shelburne, NH, daughter-in-law Jen Corrigan of Shelburne, NH, Kristen Corrigan of Brownfield, ME and Shelley Corrigan of Intervale, NH; 4 grandchildren: Molly Reynolds and husband Tucker of Lancaster, NH, Airman First Class Riley Corrigan of Dover AFB, Delaware, Aiden Corrigan of Shelburne, NH and Gavin Corrigan of Shelburne, NH; brother Michael Corrigan of Norway, ME; sisters Kathy Longnecker and husband Malcolm of Gorham, NH and Martha MacIntosh and husband Alan of Las Vegas, NV, and 2 nieces and a nephew.



A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, August 12, 2021 at 10 AM at the Jackson Community Church, 127 Main St., Jackson, NH. Relatives and friends may call at the Bryant Funeral Home, 1 Promenade St., Gorham, NH, on Wednesday August 11 from 1 to 3 and 6 to 8 PM. Private interment will be held at the Conant Burial Ground, Westbrook, ME.



In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to GRSEF, FBO Corrigan Family Scholarship, Gorham High School, 120 Main St., Gorham, NH, 03581. Online guestbook at www.bryantfuneralhome.net.



The family would appreciate all attendees of the calling hours and services to wear a mask.



It is tragic that nothing gold can stay. You will be missed. (All those terrible puns above - those were for you, Dad)