James J. Corr, 84, metallurgist, WWII hero

James J. Corr, 84, of Lansdale, a metallurgist and decorated World War II veteran, died of pneumonia at Edgehill Nursing Home in Glenside on March 11, a month after the death of his wife of 60 years, Mary McIntyre Corr.

Mr. Corr enlisted in the Army at 18. On D-Day, he parachuted into Normandy with the 101st Airborne Division.

In September 1944, he participated in Operation Market Garden, parachuting into the Netherlands and then fighting to secure bridges for the Allied advance. He was shot in the ear and received a Purple Heart.

On Dec. 19, 1944, Pvt. Corr was on patrol near Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge, when he observed a machine-gun nest manned by seven enemy solders. He dodged enemy fire to crawl within hand-grenade range. He killed two of the enemy, captured the remaining five, and was awarded the Silver Star.

During that battle, he suffered frostbite on his hands, feet, and ears. On Jan. 10, 1945, he was shot in the leg and received an Oak Leaf Cluster for his Purple Heart.

While recovering in Mittersill, Austria, he befriended an Austrian couple. The wife painted his portrait and did a pastel sketch of her backyard, which she later sent to him.

Though Mr. Corr spoke about the war only in recent years, said his daughter, Rosemary, the artwork was always prominently displayed in his home.

After his discharge, he sold real estate and insurance, and attended Temple University. He eventually earned a bachelor's degree in metallurgy from Temple while working for Standard Press Steel. He retired in the early 1990s after a 40-year career there.

Mr. Corr, whose father died when he was 4, was educated at Girard College, then a boarding school for fatherless boys. He made lifelong friends at Girard and learned French, which came in handy during the war, his daughter said. He also learned woodworking he used for home-improvement projects and to make a doll cradle, a hope chest, and a jewelry box for his daughters.

He and his wife met at a church fair and married in 1949. While helping to raise their family, he was a Boy Scout leader for a troop in East Mount Airy and later an assistant leader for a Lansdale troop. He was former commander and chaplain for the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Lansdale.

In addition to his daughter, he is survived by a son, Paul, and a sister. A daughter, Patricia, died in 1984.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church, 51 Lansdale Ave., Lansdale. Friends may call from 9 to 10:15 a.m. at Simcox-McIlvaine Funeral Home, 532 E. Main St., Lansdale. Burial will be later in Arlington National Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to the Lance Cpl. Joseph B. Mangione III Scholarship Fund, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia 19104. Mangione, Mr. Corr's grandson, was killed in Kuwait in 2003 while serving with the Marines in Operation Iraqi Freedom.