WILMINGTON — Carl Wilhelm Bissenger Korb Jr., 92, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loved ones Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017, at Lower Cape Fear Hospice.
He was born on April 29, 1924, in Roanoke, Va., and was the son to the late Carl W. B. Korb Sr. and Grace Lord Korb. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Helen Korb Bergeron; and brother, Robert Lord Korb.
A veteran of World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Missouri as a seaman first class (metal smith). He earned the American Area Campaign ribbon, the Asiatic Pacific Area Campaign ribbon (three stars-Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Guam) and Victory Medal (World War II).
He was a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a lifelong Tar Heel’s fan.
Carl loved to camp, fish, hunt and garden. As a boy, he hunted and fished the lakes and streams near Roanoke. When the family moved to Newport News, Va., during the war, he hunted ducks on the Chesapeake Bay with his brother Bobby. Bobby, a Merchant Marine in World War II, died when his ship was sunk off the coast of Virginia. Then, the family moved to Wilmington, where Carl enjoyed many years surf fishing on Wrightsville and Masonboro islands and quail and dove hunting in Brunswick County with his father, sons and brother-in-law, Bill Bergeron.
Every summer on his one week of vacation, he would pack up the station wagon and take the family camping, hiking and fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains. He loved to garden and was proud of his tomatoes he grew each summer.
Carl would often say that “he knew a little about everything and a lot about nothing.” He was truly a jack of all trades. He worked as a bookkeeper for Hanover Construction Company until it closed in the early 1980s. He changed the oil, brakes, mufflers, etc. on the family cars. He helped to build his own, as well as his father’s and brother-in-law’s, houses. He could split logs for firewood, camp with the Boy Scouts, and clean and prepare the day’s catch.
Carl was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wilmington, where he served as usher for over 60 years.
Carl was a devoted husband and a loving father. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Betty Jane Stroup Korb; four children, Elizabeth Korb-Queen (James Clinton Queen) of Ashville, Carl W.B. Korb III of Wilmington, Mary Korb Smith (Thomas J Smith) of West Virgnia and Benjamin Stroup Korb (Helen Gray Korb) of Calabash; six grandchildren, Trenton Lee Smith (Erin Rundberget), Clinton Patrick Smith, Caroline Ashley Smith, James Michael Andrew Queen, Michael Meriwether Jr. and Margaret Anne Meriwether; great-grandson, Anthony Valentino Meriwether; and numerous cousins, nephews and nieces.
A celebration of Carl’s life will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Wilmington.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Carl’s name to Lower Cape Fear Hospice or St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.