Jerry Corbett of Rock Hill, S.C., passed away Tuesday at St. Francis Hospital in Greenville, S.C., of complications from cancer.

Born in Butler, Jerry was raised on a small farm in Eau Claire by his parents, Brown and Myrtle Hillard Corbett, where he lived with his brother. Dean, and his sister, Joyce.

He attended Robert Morris University and Grove City College and graduated from Central Piedmont in civil engineering.

From his father, he learned that just about anything could be fixed, but sometimes it would just take a bigger hammer. That love of fixing equipment and solving problems followed him throughout his life.

He moved to Charlotte in 1970 and worked for 34 years at Law Engineering as a construction inspector. He worked on many large building projects in the Charlotte area as well as in Egypt and Arizona and a host of other places. When a job needed someone with a special touch, Jerry was the perfect person to send. Creative and industrious, he delighted in difficult tasks and approached them with an open mind and determined spirit.

He loved everything except boiled eggs, lazy people and lies. A meticulously honest man, he knew that a man who could not be believed could also not be trusted so he was careful to conduct himself accordingly. For that reason, along with his abiding cheerful spirit and smile, he was greatly loved and respected by all who knew him.

Jerry was devoted to his family, his church and his country, and he never understood anyone who was not similarly minded.

Nothing was ever more important than his family. He had two children of his own and two stepchildren, but there never was any difference among them, loving them all equally and telling everyone he had four children. The same was true of his grandchildren. They were all his grandchildren, and they loved him in return.

Surviving Jerry are his wife, Judy Hayes Corbett; a daughter, Susan Hopf and her husband, Michael and two granddaughters, Heidi and Greta; a daughter, Sheila Huneycutt and her husband, Brent; a daughter, Jessica Haverkock and her husband, Holger, and grandsons, MacKellan and Arlo and granddaughter Mila; a son, Christopher Linker and his wife, Auntouch, and grandson, Steven; a sister, Joyce Brosnahan and her husband, John, and niece, Holly Brosnahan; a brother, Dean Corbett; John and Johnnie Hayes, his in-laws; and Richard Hayes, Rozanna Lawing, Linda Youngblood, the siblings of his heart.

<B>CORBETT </B>— A memorial service celebrating the life of Jerry Corbett, who died Tuesday, May 3, 2011, was today at the Central Steele Creek Presbyterian Church, 9401 S. Tryon St., Charlotte, N.C. Visitation and a reception followed.In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be given to the building and grounds committee of the church.The <B>Bass-Cauthen Funeral Home</B>, Rock Hill, S.C., is serving the family, and condolences can be emailed to the family online at www.basscauthenfuneralhome.com.