“These notes are so high, we’re all going to need a truss.” Words like those from Kevin Corrington would keep me in stitches during choir rehearsals, any time we opened a song for the first time and spotted unbelievably high tenor parts.
Now, the tenor section in “An Evening in December” will always be one great man short as Kevin has passed on from this temporary Earthly life to his eternal life with Jesus.
Today, Kevin’s family, friends, and coworkers gathered at First Covenant Church to celebrate his life and recall just some of the memories that he brought to each of us.
We learned not only of his talent on the gridiron that earned him praise in college, but also of his incredible academics that resulted in his long career with CalTrans’ Legal division. From his coworkers, we learned of his incredible knowledge and memory of the law, of his attention to detail, and of his humor.
We learned of his faithful love for his wife Carol and daughter Elizabeth, and his devotion to his entire family.
We learned of his passions for sharing the good news of Christ’s eternal plan, starting with the early days of BSF and through its incredible growth. We learned that Kevin played a huge role in the eternal salvation of many men, their spouses, and their families.
We learned of his talent for music, humor, acting (and even dance), that were already evident to those of us in the choir and became evident to the thousands who witnessed “An Evening in December.” Two of his best-known roles come to mind.
The first was his role in 2003 as “Pinky,” a former secret operative
who went undercover as operator of a mission and also doubled as the basketball coach to a hilarious gang of mission kids. He was a spectacle in his backwards ballcap, turquoise t-shirt, doing the now-famous “are-we-being-tailed? spy move.” His second was his role in 2005 as “Grampa” to Maddie, a little urchin whose December 25th birthday made her unhappy that hers was always being forgotten during Christmas.
His passion for gently sharing lessions with little Maddie in that fictional world mirrored his own real-life passion for gently sharing with those in our real world. Maddie — and our own friends — needed to hear that she would benefit most in life if she put Christ first.
We learned that Kevin really pushed himself to make it through this last year’s “An Evening in December.” His health wouldn’t cooperate with his passion, yet he made it through nine of the ten performances. I and others knew how much effort it took for him just to ascend the stairs to get onstage to sing the key message during “Cry Out to Jesus.”
And now, I salute him as I know that he has just joined that incredible tenor section, able to hit the most unbelievably insane high notes with ease.
To those of us who have faith in eternal salvation through Jesus, we know with confidence that although we miss him now, some day we will join him in that choir.
Kevin Corrington
August 23, 1946 – January 6, 2008
6 Comments
January 13, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Sad…
But what a nice and honoring tribute.
Thank goodness our lives don’t end in this place.
February 8, 2008 at 5:35 am
Though we never met in the flesh Kevin was like a brother. His uncompromising wit was unparalleled and his song parodies were brilliant, sheer genius.
Yet another of God’s faithful servants has gone home to the eternal embrace of our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
February 8, 2008 at 3:18 pm
.Although we never met in person, Kevin was our friend and we grew to love and respect him thru his humerous comments and parodies. Always the gentleman, “the great Santini” never failed to thank us when we offered words of astonishment and praise of his brilliant parodies. Our one question was “how do you do it?”
He Loved the Lord, his wife and children, his church and we of Scrappleface knew he loved us. He was truly “The great Santini’.
I miss you Kevin,but will see you by and by.
Keep ‘em laughing!
February 9, 2008 at 5:37 pm
As another who only knew Kevin as The Great Santini at Scrappleface, may I offer words of condolence to his family and friends. He shared his loving spirit and talent there often over the years and will be sorely missed.
Please be comforted by knowing that he touched the lives of many in a positive way. My prayers are with you all.
February 9, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I only knew Kevin as “The Great Santini” at the Scrappleface site. As I read his posts, I would often think to myself, “I’d like to be able to talk with him”. Now, knowing that he’s where I’ll be someday, it’s comforting to know that we’ll have eternity to talk.
This in no way lessens the fact that, in the here and now, we already miss him a lot.
February 9, 2008 at 11:40 pm
(from the blog author)
My good friend, Kevin Corrington, whom I knew for the past 7 years onstage in “An Evening in December” and in the tenor section of First Covenant Church’s choir, was a man whose influence extended far beyond the narrowly-focused perspectives each of us have. So, it was not a great surprise to me to find that my entry on Kevin generated a lot of traffic to my blog.
I am encouraged by Kevin’s many friends (especially Darthmeister, mindknumbed kid, da Bunny, everthink, Hawkeye, Just Ranting, and others from the Scrappleface site) who have come to my page believing that this is the Great Santini’s official legacy page. But it’s not, this is just one man’s blog page on a good friend.
Instead, please visit the Corrington family’s tribute page at legacy.com ( http://www.legacy.com/SacBee/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=100974375 ) and extend your gracious thoughts of Kevin there for his family to see.
God Bless All of You,
~Andy GeeWhiz, his friend