Cory was a true country boy. He & his dog, Runner, loved going out and chasing coons, he showed rabbits at 4-H in both Jay & Blackford Counties', he LOVED taking things apart and putting(or sometimes trying to put) them back together again, and was an exceptional fisherman.If it had to do with mud, girls, fishing or hunting Cory was usually in the middle of it, or trying his hardest to talk his mom or dad into letting him be in the middle of it. Cory was absolutely girl crazy and was sure he was gonna marry Gretchen Willson someday, the Redneck Woman song he always said " that was his kind of girl".More often than not you would hear his mom yelling " CORY !" and his dad laughing when a pretty girl walked by because all of his attention went straight to that girl! Cory knew and told more jokes than any person I had ever met. Sometimes Cory's excitement over making something work got the better of him. One of those times earned him the nickname sparkplug !
One evening Cory & his cousin Zach were going to Zach's house to get his hunting stuff so they could go out with Cory's dad Rodney and on the way back for some reason Zach's car got off the side of the road on a soft edge and they lost control. Both boys had their seatbelts on, but the car spun and landed into a grove of trees. Both Cory & Zach died that night.
This world was a better place with Cory in it and we will never know why God needed him so soon.The one thing I am sure of is the memory of the sound of his laughter is one of the things about him we all miss the most, that and his VERY ornery grin.
Cory was awarded the Eagle Scout award posthumously which ia a very rare event.He was and always will be an exceptional, unique guy with an outlook on life that we would all benefit from having.