Retired educator Roger Corey dies at 70

Roger Corey Sr. earned the respect of generations of students at a Sacramento high school before moving to Rancho Murieta. Former students remember him as “Mr. Corey,” and when they learned of his death from cancer Wednesday at the age of 70, they shared what he meant to them.  “Mr. Corey knew that discipline and boundaries would have to be the saving grace of our generation. ... He was the closest thing to a father that several of my friends will ever know,” Sergio Villarreal posted on ranSACkedMedia.com. Darren Lee, another former student, wrote, “I greatly admire the way he was tough on us. He was teaching us respect, how to act.”

Mr. Corey spent most of his 35-year career as an educator at Kennedy High School, where he was a coach, teacher and principal. “He was very giving, and he cared about kids,” said Debbie Corey about her husband of 30 years. Following Mr. Corey’s retirement from Sacramento schools and the couple’s move to Rancho Murieta nine years ago, he joined the Optimist Club. “Whenever it was a kids’ thing, he volunteered his time,” she said.

Son Rocky and his wife, Mary, already lived in Rancho Murieta, and it proved to be a good fit for Roger and Debbie Corey.  “Roger always wanted three things: He wanted to live in a gated community, he wanted to live on a hill, and he wanted to live on the golf course. ... He got all of his wishes at once,” Debbie Corey said.

She recalled that after moving here,  the couple told their family they were “never, ever moving again. There is no place we would rather live in the whole world. That’s how much Roger loved it here.”

Both became involved in things they valued about the community. Debbie Corey is a Security gate officer and Mr. Corey worked for Rancho Murieta Country Club as a starter on the South Course for about eight years.

Two years ago her husband started a ride service from Rancho Murieta to Sacramento International Airport that “just went bananas. Everybody used it,” Debbie Corey said.

In addition to the popular shuttle service, “the other thing he was famous for was his pies. ... He took pies to everyone. They’d never had a pear pie, they’d never even heard of it,” she said.

Mr. Corey made the pies himself from start to finish. He’d start by harvesting ripe pears at a friend’s orchard. “He would get on ladders and pick them,” his wife said. “Some lady gave him the recipe and it had been in the family for years, and it was the easiest one in the world.” Her husband made “anywhere from 15 to 25 pies per day, one right after the other ... and then everybody he’d pick up at the airport would have a pie.” In addition to giving away pies,  he would give away pears and share the pie recipe freely.  Debbie Corey said the freezer was full of pies in case “somebody might need a pie. ... He got such a kick out of doing that. He was a generous man.”

Mr. Corey was born in Sacramento Jan. 18, 1942. He met his wife when Debbie was working as a bookkeeper for a restaurant. He knew the restaurant owner and would stop in to visit, and gradually got to know her.  “I’m the really lucky one,” she said. “I got Roger and I got eight of the best kids. I couldn’t have raised them myself any better. ... It’s such a privilege to even be called mom by these kids. They’re so amazing.”

In addition to his wife, Mr. Corey is survived by children Robin, Rocky, Rhonda, Reinaldo, Corey, Kyla, Joey, Amber and Jessica; sisters Joyce and Mable; his brother, Anthony; 17 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Services for Mr. Corey will be held 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Joseph Church, 9961 Elk Grove Florin Road, Elk Grove. A gathering will follow at California Wedding Hall, 7323 Home Leisure Plaza, Sacramento.