Wife at time of death:
Lynn Fordham Corse
Children and ages (all surviving):
Daughters Garland DeCourcy, 51; Sarah Fordham, 23 (step-daughter); Ashleigh Corse, 18.
Son Logan Corse, 49.
In 2009, John himself wrote his brief biography for his 50 year high school reunion, reprinted below.
Regarding a summary of John's life, we feel it best to share John's own words. Additional information
about John is provided after this bio that he wrote:
Life Summary Written by John in 2009 for 50-Year High School Reunion:
"Highlights of life over the past 50 years
Upon leaving Bakersfield High School I attended the University of California at Berkeley to study
Chemistry. I was part of an accelerated Chemistry program that did two years of Chemistry in one
year. After two years, owing to the confluence of a number of factors, I joined the Air Force.
In the Air Force, I was declared a computer programmer and assigned to the headquarters of the Air
Force research and development organization. I began to write a great deal of software over the next
two years. I was then asked to stop writing new software because the budget would not support the
staff needed to maintain what I had written. I negotiated an arrangement whereby I could spend my
week days off-base doing my own business so long as I was available to assist with any problems that
developed with the programs I had written. This led to the creation of my first software business.
During my third year in the Air Force, I married a woman I had met on a blind date. We rapidly had
my daughter Garland and then my son Logan. After leaving the Air Force, I sold the software
business and hired on to work for one of my largest customers for the next year and one-half. I then
joined another company with the promise of relocation to live in Germany. Before going to Germany,
I worked on a project for Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense, which resulted in choosing the
next generation of strategic weapons for the US arsenal.
In Germany I worked as a consultant for the US military headquarters in Europe for three years and
I attended the Air War College in a seminar program. I lived in a small German town and most of
my friends were local people. I went native in Germany.
I was brought back to the US to work on the design of a new Intelligence capability that tracked
every ship on the surface and under the surface of the oceans. This system has been described in the
Tom Clancy book, "Red Storm Rising."
I then led a team to develop a new line of business for my company and took over running the NASA
Headquarters computer center under a contract. I then grew this business to also run the computer
centers of a number of other government entities.
I was now cemented into senior management and ran increasingly larger business activities. I was
sent by my company to Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program to prepare to
become the CEO of a public company. This happened fifteen years later. In the mean time the
company I worked for went through two difficult transitions as the company was twice acquired by
new owners who had no knowledge of high technology business.
I worked for a few other companies including companies I started over the next fifteen years.
During this time I married my current wife, whom I cherish and who is the mother of my two
youngest daughters.
I then became the CEO of Computer Learning Centers (CLC) which was a turnaround situation. As
I turned this business around and returned it to profitability and growth, I invested all of my
accumulated wealth into the stock of this company. Through the inappropriate actions of staff of the
US Department of Education in the last week of the Clinton administration, I was forced to put this
public company into liquidation. This had a very negative financial impact on 20,000 families, to
include mine. I was financially wiped out, lost my job, and lost the ability to work in a similar
position in the future. The staff at the Department of Education was trying to punish the company
for actions my predecessors had taken. They had no idea what they were doing would destroy the
company and severely impact the 13,000 students attending the 24 learning centers.
This proved to be a hard time for me, for obvious reasons. I sold my house to buy groceries, bought a
small townhouse, and spent the next six months helping, for no pay, the bankruptcy trustee get
maximum value for the assets of CLC. We managed to get over $40,000,000 and fully paid off every
student and employee, except for myself.
This set in motion some major life changes for me. I became re-born as a Christian and have worked
hard at Christian discipleship since then.
My wife was hired to run the US operations of a British software company, which she did for
eighteen months until that company was sold to a German company which did away with her
position.
I worked as a Managing Director for three years for an Investment Bank specializing in merger and
acquisition work. Despite a lot of very successful work, including bringing buyers paying the asked
for price to my clients, each client decided to not sell their business. It took me about 18 months of
work for each client to get a qualified buyer and purchase agreement negotiated. I ended up with
virtually no income for this three year period.
We sold our townhouse and paid off our accumulated credit card debt with the proceeds. At this
point we had essentially no funds and no place to live. My mother, still living in Bakersfield, had
recently had a stroke and my sister asked me to come to Bakersfield to assess her needs.
We gave away a lot of the "stuff" we had, put the remainder into storage in Virginia, and drove to
Bakersfield [in 2005]. We moved into my mother's house [for a year] to care for her since she could
not fully care for herself, despite her protests otherwise. [With much help from other family
members, we cared for my mother until she passed away.]
Since coming back to Bakersfield, I managed a carrot processing plant for Bolthouse Farms for a
year until my position was eliminated. I am currently not working; however, I am not comfortable
considering myself retired."
After the above writing in 2009, John experienced a number of increasingly serious health problems. John
died on November 2, 2015, from a massive stroke caused by metastatic melanoma. He was living in
Denver, CO, with his wife and two younger daughters when he died.
John was a devout Christian, a warrior, a leader, a brilliant man, a loving and caring person, a black belt
in Tae Kwon Do, and he will be greatly missed. John loved staying plugged into world events. He was a
devoted husband and father, and loved his grandchildren dearly, including his new great-granddaughter.
In his younger years, John enjoyed sailing, fly fishing, hunting, running marathons, skydiving, and home
improvement projects. John's favorite colors were bright "happy" colors like yellow and orange. John's
favorite music included The Irish Tenors, Celtic Woman, The Clancy Brothers, classical music, Louis
Prima and Big Band music, and Christian praise music,.
John was born and raised in Bakersfield, CA, and attended Bakersfield High School. John spent most of his
adult life in Maryland and Virginia, and also spent a few years in Germany.
John loved all things Irish, being of Norman and Irish descent. The family name was DeCourcy and can be
traced all the way back to Charlemagne. The family crest is shown above. The family motto "Vincit Omnia
Veritas" means "Truth Conquers All." Oftentimes John would lapse into a faux Irish accent, leading
friends and acquaintances to ask his family, "What part of Ireland is John from?" His wife and daughters
would answer, "The Bakersfield part."
There are many famous and noteworthy ancesters in the DeCourcy line. For example, John DeCourcy
circa 1177 built Carrickfergus Castle in Ireland, among other castles and strongholds. Below are two of
John's favorite ancestral stories which he loved to share:
1. "A legend persists, as reported in Burke's Peerage and retold in many other documents including
Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, that John DeCourcy was later called on by the same
King John who had imprisoned him. A single champion was required for England to settle a
property dispute with France. The French king had sent a champion but England could not decide
on any man worthy of this high stakes single combat other than John DeCourcy. The king finally
acceded to this selection only to be repudiated by John DeCourcy who preferred imprisonment to
fighting for a king who had stripped him of titles without honor. Finally, an independent noble
persuaded John to fight for England – not its king. He took the battlefield with such force and
presence that the French champion yielded and flew the field. The French king demanded a
display of his fortitude and strength. With a single blow John split the shields and helmet his
opponent had left behind. King John, now grateful and apologetic for his prior actions, asked
what he could do for him in addition to restoring titles and estates. The request –which was
granted, was that DeCourcy and all his heirs would never have to bow down (remove one's hat in
tribute) to an English monarch again. This extraordinary right – effectively acknowledging the
family need not be subservient to the king, became known as the unique "special privilege"
accorded only to the DeCourcy family." (Source: http://www.decourcy.net/history
2. During the American Civil War, another of John's ancestors distinguished himself: General John
Corse "is perhaps best known for his role in the Battle of Allatoona in October 1864. On
Sherman's orders, Corse went with 2,100 men to secure Allatoona Pass to prevent Confederate
Gen. John Bell Hood from severing Union communications. The small band of Union soldiers
fought determinedly against the 7,000 troops under Hood's command. During the bloody battle,
Corse "lost one third of his men and one third of his ear" but secured the pass on October 5, the
date on which he was later appointed a brevet major general. In the midst of the fighting, General
Corse received the famous message from General Sherman, "Hold on, I am coming!" Newspapers
later amended the text to "Hold the fort, for I am coming",[2] which inspired a popular ballad.
Corse was badly wounded during the stubborn defense, losing a cheekbone and one ear, but
recovered to resume his front-line combat duties. Corse later participated in Sherman's March to
the Sea and the Siege of Savannah. In the final months of the Civil War, he led his division during
the Carolinas Campaign. At the end of the war he was appointed brevet major general for his
Allatoona service." (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_M._Corse )
Our own beloved John Logan Corse will be laid to rest at Georgia National Cemetery on November 9,
2015, near the site of Battle of Allatoona Pass in which Brigadier General John Corse played a major role.
John will be greatly missed. We rejoice in his rejoicing:
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or
pain. All these things are gone forever."
Revelation 21:4