The Rev. George Baylis Corley, formally of Orangeburg, SC, passed away on June 2, 2024, at the home of his daughter in Seneca, SC, one month shy of his 100th birthday.
He was the husband of Barbara Ruth Dennis Corley for nearly 75 years.
Pastor Corley was born on July 9, 1924, in Lexington, SC, the son of Samuel Perry Corley and Leola Wingard Corley. He was a 1946 graduate of Newberry College, where he was the president of the student body his senior year. In 1949, he graduated from The Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, SC, with a Masters of Divinity. Pastor Corley was ordained by the South Carolina Synod of the Lutheran Church of America in 1949.
Before his retirement in 1990, Pastor Corley served Lutheran Churches in the following South Carolina towns: Ehrhardt (1949-1950), Georgetown and Kingstree (1950-1955), Newberry (1955-1960), Cameron and Creston (1960-1983), St. Matthews (1963-1983), and Lexington (1983-1990). In 2012, he was designated Pastor Emeritus at both Resurrection Lutheran Church in Cameron and St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Creston.
In addition to his wife Barbara, Baylis Corley is survived by daughters Denise Corley (Steve) Godowns of Houston, TX, and Ruth Corley (Ed) Pekarek of Seneca, SC; grandchildren Amy Elizabeth Pekarek, Jeffrey Baylis (Lesslie) Pekarek, Andrew Edward (Carmen) Pekarek, and Franklin Dennis Godowns; great-grandsons John Baylis Pekarek, William Douglass Pekarek and Patton Edward Paul Pekarek; and a number of nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by his four older siblings, Sarah Steele, James Corley, Ellis Corley, and Frances VanPatton.
A celebration of Pastor Corley’s life will be held at a later date at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Cameron, SC. The family suggests memorials to Orangeburg-Calhoun Free Medical Clinic, PO Box 505, Orangeburg, SC 29116 or to a charity of one’s choice
