Thursday, June 18, 10:30 AM

William “Bill” Harold Corcoran, Sr. passed away at his home in Edina, MN on June 10, 2020 at the age of 84.

Bill was on the move throughout his life.  Born in Corning, New York on March 11, 1936, to Esther and Edward Corcoran, Bill moved to San Diego, California with his parents and his brother Edward, Jr. after World War II. Following military service in Korea and Germany, Bill returned to San Diego, where he married Barbara Clifton, with whom he had five children: Bill Jr., Rick, Terri, Jim, and Kelly.

Bill took deep pride in his work on several space exploration and communications projects. He contributed to the Gemini, Apollo, and Viking Mars lander programs, moving the family across the country and to the Netherlands as contracts came and went and career opportunities arose.  Bill traveled frequently to Asia, directing Sun Microsystems’ customer and technical support operations in the region.

He and his second wife, Elaine Nederostek Rigo, lived in the Bay Area for most of their careers. He and Elaine moved to the Minneapolis area in 2013.

Bill loved history and read voraciously about the World Wars and politics.  His favorite time was reading The New York Times each morning with his coffee. Bill loved to fish, whether standing on a pier, wading in an icy creek, or sitting on a frozen lake – when he was fishing he was at home.  His sense of humor was often bawdy and his opinions always strong. He was not the shy person in a room, and his inclination to push ahead was the source of many stories, which the family he cherished will recount at a memorial sometime this year along his beloved Pacific Ocean.

A special thank you to the VA Minneapolis staff who provided compassionate and excellent care.

Bill is survived by his loving wife Elaine, his sweet cocker spaniel Wendy, his children and their mother, 12 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Bill’s memory to Space Center Houston; The Manned Space Flight Education Foundation, 1601 NASA Parkway, Houston, TX 77058 or www.spacecenter.org/support/.