Red Sox great Corke was about integrity
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A funeral service will be held Thursday for Jamie Corke, one of the Intercounty Baseball League’s top 100 players of all-time and a respected baseball umpire, who died Dec. 6 at the Stedman Community Hospice.
The former Brantford Red Sox player was 64.
The service will begin at noon at St. Mark’s Anglican Church, 155 Memorial Dr., Brantford.
A visitation will be held at Dennis Toll Funeral Home, 55 Charing Cross St., Brantford, on Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“My dad was always about integrity, working hard and putting his head down and getting the job done, whether that was as a dad or a husband,” said Mr. Corke’s son, Brandon.
He said his father “immensely” loved his wife, Vicki, through 41 years of marriage.
“There was nothing more important to him than my mom, even up until his last days.”
Growing up, Brandon played baseball but knew he would never reach his dad’s level. Brandon also played golf and looked forward to beating his dad.
“There was never going to be a three-foot miss on 18 to give me the match,” Brandon said. “It was always going to be him pressing, pressing and pressing.
“That was the way it was with dad. If you worked hard, you’ll get the world but … you’re going to have to earn it.”
Brandon said his father worked at Canadian Blue Bird for 36 years and took just three sick days. Following that, he worked at The Marco Corp. for 12 years and never missed a day due to illness.
“That was him,” Brandon said. “Get the job done, put your head down and the best will come.”
This past season, Mr. Corke umpired about 100 games, including the Ontario University Athletics championship in October, his son said. A couple of weeks prior to that, Mr. Corke thought he had pulled a muscle in his side while umpiring.
On Nov. 4, the family got the diagnosis that Mr. Corke had Stage 4 colon cancer. Doctors told the family that he likely had been sick for about 10 years.
“It was hard to believe he didn’t get any symptoms or anything,” Brandon said.
Mr. Corke entered the hospice on Dec. 3 and passed away three days later.
During his final day, Mr. Corke got visits from former Red Sox players Lee Delfino and Wayne Forman.
Brandon said his father had been unresponsive for four or five hours but sat up when Delfino walked in the room.
“He said, ‘Lee how you doing buddy? Come and give me a hug.’
“It was that respect between people that played the game at a high level and understood the game, (that I’ll) remember about my dad the most.”
An outfielder with the Red Sox in the 1970s and ’80s, Mr. Corke was thrilled last year when he was named to the IBL’s list of top-100 players of all-time.
““It’s an extreme honour,” he told The Expositor after finding out about the news.
“The league has a lot of history. From the ceremony, (they said there) were 17,000 players that have passed through the league.
“It’s probably one of the oldest leagues in Canada and, at the time when we played, I considered it to be one of the two best leagues in the country.
Brandon didn’t get to see his dad play but he was at a Red Sox ceremony honouring his dad.
“He’s always been my hero,” he said.
Mr. Corke is also survived by his daughter, Becky.
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