‘Well respected and loved.’ Former long-serving Tri-Cities area county leader dies

Former long-time Franklin County Commissioner Neva Corkrum died Monday at the age of 88.

She was county commissioner for 20 years, making her one of the longest-serving county commissioners in the state of Washington. Her family believes she also was the first woman to serve in that role in Franklin County.

She was the last Democrat elected as a Franklin County commissioner, but admiration for her crossed party lines.

“She was just really well respected and loved,” said current County Commissioner Rocky Mullen. “She cared about people.”

Instead of just talking on the phone to residents who raised issues, she would drive out to their house and discuss their concerns in person, he said.

Corkrum started work for the county in 1958 and was employed there until the end of her final term as county commissioner ended in 2008.

She “grew up” in the courthouse, said her son, Dave Corkrum, Franklin County’s chief criminal deputy prosecutor.

Restoring Franklin courthouse

One of her favorite projects as commissioner was restoration of the historic Franklin County Courthouse.

“She was very proud they were able to restore it instead of tearing it down,” her son said.

The work, completed in 2006, took almost two years and $12 million, with dozens of craftsmen from as far away as England painstakingly working to match the original architect’s 1912 plans.

Voters approved a $10.2 million bond to not only restore the building, including its Tiffany glass dome, to its original splendor, but also to rewire the building and install modern plumbing and ventilation units.

“It was always an awesome place to work. It was beautiful if you didn’t look at the part that was deteriorating,” Neva Corkrum said at the rededication of the courthouse.

The Ben Franklin Transit system was established during the years she served on the commission, and she was committed to its services and enjoyed working with the agency, her son said.

Health care was another passion, and she was recognized with a lifetime achievement award by the Washington state Board of Health, according to her family.

Her parents, Nebraska farmers, moved to Pasco so her father could work construction at the Hanford nuclear reservation when Neva Corkrum was about 6.

She was enrolled in Whittier Elementary School and would spend most of the rest of her life as a Pasco resident.

The exception was a couple of years in the 1950s when her husband, Phillip, who later would teach at Stevens Junior High in Pasco, was assigned to a Naval home base in Honolulu, Hawaii, during the Korean War.

It was her first time away from Pasco and she was homesick, but the young couple bought a jalopy and had a good time exploring the area, her son said.

50 years at Pasco courthouse

Her first job in the Pasco courthouse was as a county extension agent.

After a year or two, she went to work for the county auditor and was appointed to fill the position when it became open midterm.

She would later be elected to to two, four-year terms as auditor, before running for election as a county commissioner in 1988.

She was a favorite of car dealers in the region when she worked in the auditor’s office, licensing vehicles in Franklin County and also many in Benton County, which saved dealers a drive from the Tri-Cities to the Prosser courthouse.

She often stayed at the courthouse evenings to help them.

She would be thanked during the Christmas holidays with more boxes of chocolates than her family could eat, her son said. She would donate many of them to her church.

She saw Pasco grow from a town of 8,000 to its current population estimated at nearly 79,000 residents.

She worked hard on Franklin County zoning issues, making sure rural areas remained rural and city expansion was done responsibly, her son said.

Pasco High Hall of Fame

In 2004 she was inducted into the Pasco High School Hall of Fame.

She was praised then for her work to eliminate duplicated services at the city, county and state levels.

She held statewide positions with the Department of Health, including as vice chairwoman of its board, and with the Washington State Transit Authority and the Washington Counties Risk Pool.

Locally, she was a member of the Pasco Kiwanis and the Pasco Chamber of Commerce. She served on the Tri-Cities-based United Way board and was chairwoman of the Franklin County Law and Justice Council and the Benton Franklin Health District Board

Corkrum is survived by her son and two daughters, Jackie Hanson and Nancy Linman, both of Pasco; five grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.

Visitation will be Friday, Oct. 21, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Hillcrest Funeral Home in Pasco.

Funeral services are at 11 a.m. Saturday at First Lutheran Church 530 W. Bonneville St., Pasco, where she was a longtime member.