John Corrie, 80, longtime watchmaker

John G. Corrie, a watchmaker and instrument technician who had lived in Ridgefield a half century, died early Wednesday morning, Jan. 9, at Mediplex of Danbury. He was 80 years old.
A native of Manchester, England, Mr. Corrie was born on Jan. 31, 1921, a son of John T. and Emily Jackson Corrie. He grew up in Manchester and during World War II, served in the Royal Air Force.
While stationed with the RAF in the Bahamas, Mr. Corrie visited New York City on leave. At a USO club there, he met Bronx native Marion Strick and the two were married June 4, 1944, two days before D-Day. He was reassigned to England and his wife joined him there in 1945.
The couple moved to the United States in 1946 and in 1951 came to Ridgefield where Mr. Corrie became the watchmaker for Craig’s Jewelry Store. He later joined the Perkin-Elmer Corp., working there as an instrument technician for many years.
In 1967, during the Vietnam War, Perkin-Elmer loaned Mr. Corrie to the U.S. Navy. He served for a year aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise, in the Gulf of Tonkin, working on classified optics for aircraft cameras.
Throughout his years at Perkin-Elmer and after he retired, Mr. Corrie continued to work as a watchmaker from his homes on Governor Street and later North Salem Road. He fixed not only watches but clocks and clock-like mechanisms.
He loved his work, said his daughter, Joan Mannion of Ridgefield. She told of one case in which a customer brought in a broken, old slot machine for repair. “He found it fascinating,” Mrs. Mannion said. “He put in a thousand dollars worth of time and charged them only $50 because he enjoyed it so much.”
He worked on many of the antique clocks around town, including the large tower clock at the First Congregational Church.
Mr. Corrie was a member of the Knights of Columbus, in which he was a past grand knight, and had also belonged to the St. Mary’s Men’s Club and Rosary Society.
Mrs. Corrie died in 1994, just a few months short of their 50th wedding anniversary.
Besides Mrs. Mannion, Mr. Corrie is survived by three other daughters: Suzanne Corrie of Bridgeport, Eileen Graziano of Lewisville, Texas, and Kathleen Callender of Godmanchester, England; two sons: James P. Corrie of Berkeley, Calif., and Brian D. Corrie of Garden Grove, Calif.; a sister: Joan Dixon of England; 13 grandchildren, including: Colin Mannion of Ridgefield, Kyle Mannion of New Britain, and Michael Mannion of Running Springs, Calif.; a neice: Linda Maggs of Ridgefield; and nephews in both England and the United States.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 10:30 a.m. in St. Mary's Church. Burial will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Friends will be received at the Kane Funeral Home, 41 Catoonah Street, on Monday from 5 to 8 p.m.
Contributions in Mr. Corrie’s memory may be made to Hospice of Connecticut, 24 Wooster Avenue, Waterbury, CT 06708.
The Kane Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.