Remembered for passion
Bob Baird
Journal News columnist
Frank Corbo only spent a few years in Scouting as a young boy, but when his sons became Cub Scouts, he got hooked, devoting 25 years of effort that made others in the Boy Scout movement regard him as "the Rock in the Rockland District."
Over the years, he applied himself to whatever tasks needed to be done, from riding pack and troop officials to get registration paperwork turned in, to parking cars at Scout events at Camp Bullowa in Stony Point.
His passion was so intense that on Sunday evening, the longtime district commissioner was to have been honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Rockland District of the Hudson Valley Council of Boy Scouts.
But Wednesday, at 65, Frank Corbo lost a two-month battle with illness, just days shy of an honor that would have only punctuated his devotion to youth and the organization he used as a vehicle to touch their lives.
The award was bestowed Sunday evening while Corbo's family greeted friends and many whose lives he touched as a Cub Scout leader, assistant scoutmaster, scoutmaster, and in larger roles helping to inspire and train a generation of scouters, as the Boy Scouts' adult volunteers are known.
His sons, Matthew and Michael, who had been his lure into adult Scouting beginning in1985, thanked the district in a message read to the 165 individuals in attendance at the Casa Mia Manor House, many of them volunteers being honored for their roles in Rockland Scouting.
About two dozen uniformed adult scouters — men and women who like Corbo have devoted their lives to working with Scouts — formed an honor guard outside Sacred Heart Church Monday for his funeral.
They heard Monsignor Joseph R. Giandurco praise Corbo's lifelong effort to help others, saying, "He touched many lives and many people and today, we give thanks for his life."
Matthew Corbo spoke about his father's passion for life, Scouting and his ability to pass both on to others.
He urged the congregation to ask themselves, "What am I passionate about?" and "How can I make the people around me enjoy this, too?"
That's what his father did best, he said, adding that his eagerness to share that passion was what made people remember and respect his father.
In fact, the Rockland District plans to honor Corbo's service by naming the conference room at Camp Bullowa's training center, where monthly district meetings and training sessions are held, in his memory.
Frank Calfa, who became Rockland District commissioner when Corbo moved up to assistant council commissioner, says the honor is fitting. "When I signed up for my first training program, Frank was the shining face at the registration table," he said. "He spent many a day in that training center."
Corbo moved to the role with the Hudson Valley Council, which covers five counties including Rockland, to concentrate on improving communications — something he accomplished in Rockland with help from his son, Michael.
Together, they began the Rockland District website and Corbo went on a crusade to gather as many e-mail addresses as he could, says Assistant District Commissioner Don Schreeck, who spoke about his friend's achievements at Sunday night's awards dinner.
Eventually, that small e-mail list grew to well over 1,000 names, with Corbo using it relentlessly to pump up interest in events among Scouts and in training and planning among adult leaders. It was something he hoped to build upon at the council level.
"His enthusiasm for the program and his dedication to Scouting were clearly evident in all that he did," Schreeck said in making the award presentation Sunday, adding that it was Corbo who inspired him to take on a role as a commissioner.
Marty London, who was an assistant scoutmaster and scoutmaster at the same time as Corbo, says "we just kept bumping elbows," as they worked through many different roles and their friendship grew. "Frank would walk the streets in Suffern every year asking shop owners for support. If you gave $2, he appreciated it as much as if you gave hundreds."
Corbo made his living in the electrical trade for almost 40 years, working his way from an apprenticeship to a general foreman. He also was active in politics, once serving as treasurer of a Democratic Club and in recent years was a member of the Montebello Parks Commission.
For several years, Corbo would bring Boy Scouts to the annual Montebello Day celebration, says commission member Amy Rapoport. More recently, he was instrumental to the success of the Montebello Family Camp-Out, held over Father's Day weekend on the 5-acre Village Hall grounds. The event gives many families their first camping experience, an experience made special by Frank Corbo's leadership.
On Wednesday, not long after Corbo died, the Montebello village board passed a resolution renaming the event in his memory.
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