Lucille Hartzell Corbin

Lucille Hartzell Corbin died on July 25, 2025 in Traverse City, Michigan at the age of 104. She had been of sound mind and body until her death. Lucille was born on October 25, 1920, to Luther Franklin Hartzell and Kathryn George Hartzell at their home on Juniper Street in Quakertown, PA. In 1925 the family moved to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada where her father served as Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church for ten years. Lucille graduated Liberty High School, Bethlehem, PA in 1937, and went on to attend Gettysburg College, where she graduated in 1941 with a B.A. in Chemistry. She had a short career working as one of the first two women chemists with Armstrong Cork. She met William Lewis Corbin while in college and they were married on May 14, 1943, in La Jolla, CA where ‘Lew’ was serving as a Captain in the US Army at Camp Callen (now the site of Torrey Pines Golf Club). Their son, Jeffry, was born in June of 1945 in Carmel by the Sea, CA. Lucille followed her husband’s long career with Dow Chemical Company first to Traverse City, then Red Hook, NY, Chicago, IL, Midland, MI, Kansas City, MO, Boston, MA, and finally to New Plymouth, New Zealand, before retiring to their home on Long Lake near Traverse City. They also wintered in Green Valley, AZ for the years before Lew’s death in 1994. Her interests in life were bridge, Mah Jongg, Scrabble, and she admitted that she never met a craft or art form she didn’t like, taking adult education classes in a different art form in each new location she found herself in. She was preceded in death by her parents, an infant daughter, Constance, in 1950, and her husband William Lewis Corbin in 1994. She is survived by her brother, William Pitt Hartzell of Quakertown, PA; her son Jeffry; granddaughter Misha Neidorfler (Jeff), great-grandchildren Bug Neidorfler and Nora Neidorfler, a niece, Sherri Hartzell and nephew, Bill Hartzell (Jackie), grandnieces Natalie and Katherine Moir and grandnephew Joe Hartzell. Her family is appreciative of all the people who assisted Lucille during her later years: the bridge players, the Mah Jong friends, the amazing caregivers at Boardman Lake Glens and Hospice of Michigan, and especially Lane Corbin. A private memorial will be held in the autumn. Donations in Lucille’s name can be made to City Opera House, Traverse City, MI or Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA.

Lucille Hartzell Corbin

October 25, 1920 - July 25, 2025