Stanley E Corvin Jr.

Stanley E. "Stan" Corvin Jr. was born on May 8th, 1945, in Colorado City, Texas, to Stanley E. Corvin Sr. and to Joy Estelle Heath, and passed away on January 25th, 2023, in Dallas, Texas, at the age of 77 years old.

Stan was born deep in the heart of Texas, where the ways of Texas men and women took root in his heart. His dad served as a fighter pilot during WWII and didn't get to meet his son until Stan was seven months old. He imparted a love of country, freedom, and service to his son whenever he wasn't deployed. His mom, Joy, lived up to her name as she taught school and raised Stan and his sister, Penney, to be life-long learners and lovers of reading and writing. 

 Stan was drafted into the US Army while at Texas Tech. He was accepted into the helicopter pilot flight training program at Fort Wolters in Mineral Wells, Texas, and graduated at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, in 1967.  He arrived in Chu Lai, South Vietnam, in January 1968 in time for the infamous "Tet Offensive," where he flew "Loaches" for a "Heavy Hunter Killer" team for sixteen months. He then went to West Germany and flew Cobra gunships for two years.  He volunteered to return to Danang, Vietnam and flew "Huey" helicopters for the CIA Phoenix Program.  As a combat helicopter pilot, he was shot down two times in ten minutes surviving 4 shots in his chest and stomach by an AK-47.

Stan was awarded the Purple Heart, Two Distinguished Flying Cross Awards,the Silver Star, the Bronze Star Medal with V device, the Air Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal. In 1974, Stan resigned his commission in the US Army to pursue a career as a banker. He retired in 2014 after forty years in the banking and financial services industry. In 2015 he began writing military memoirs. His First one published was “Vietnam Saga:  Exploits of a Combat Helicopter Pilot,” which won a Military Writers of America award. He then wrote the story of being raised by strong men accustomed to hard ways as he grew from boy to Texas man. That book, “Echoes of the Hunt,” won first place in the Texas Authors Association’s book of the year contest. He wrote “The Eagle Above: Chronicles of an American Fighter Pilot,” to tell the story of his father’s extraordinary military career as a fighter pilot. He created Southwestern Legacy Press, LLC, and devoted his time to helping others leave a legacy by creating a book to tell their story.

Stan has been married to his wife, Peggy, for thirty exciting, adventurous years. Their life together has been a shared partnership of loving each other and their family, writing, editing, and publishing books, supporting the veteran community, and enjoying friends and fellowship with their church family. They are both lovers of books, but their favorite book of all is the Bible and they strive to have their writing honor God.

Stan is preceded in death by his parents, Joy and Stan Corvin Sr., his sister, Penny, and his father-in-law and one of his best friends, Roy Gates.

Stan is survived by his loving wife, Peggy Corvin, and blessed by a large family of children and their spouses and his grandchildren; Mack and Vandy Marsh, Hank and wife Taylor, and Robert; Lesley Corvin, Jessie; Karen and Todd Wittbrodt, Meagan and Macy; Suzanne and Shadd McKinney, Asher, Noble, Anson, and Ezra; Kevin Marsh, Emma, Kevin, Jr., Annelise and Madeleine; Andrea and Chris Wein, Corvin and Windsor, and Jennifer Carpenter, Alex. He and Peggy also celebrate having a spiritual bonus son and his wife, John and Angel Arroyo. He adored his little dogs, Lili and Zoey, who will miss him terribly.

Stan requested there be no formal service and that his ashes would be scattered this spring in the bluebonnets and paintbrushes, which grow in the place he loved, deep in the heart of Texas.

Recently as a large group of his family was returning home to Tennessee, he was asked if he wanted to tell them one last important thing about life. "Yes!" he said. He then looked loving at each one in turn and repeatedly said from his Texas-sized heart, "I love you." That sums up the overarching message he had for each of us.

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