Judith McFarland Corkill

Judith McFarland Corkill, age 85, of Austin passed away January 25, 2021, at Silverado Barton Springs Memory Care in Austin, Texas. She was born September 21, 1935, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to parents James Darrel and Meta Etris McFarland.

Judy spent her entire childhood in Fayetteville. She graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1957 with a B.S. in Business Administration. On the first Friday of Judy’s first semester in college, she met her husband, Charles Porter Corkill, at a Baptist Student Union social. They married on January 29, 1956.

Judy and Charles lived in Arkansas, Louisiana, Colorado, New York, Ohio and Texas – as well as in Tripoli, Libya. Everywhere they lived, Judy served Baptist churches with music, as she had since she was a teenager. She most often played the organ or piano (always on a volunteer basis) and sometimes sang in the choir. She loved all the old hymns and improvised beautifully. Even in the First Baptist Church of Tripoli, Judy was the organist while Charles directed the choir.

Raising four daughters, along with volunteering in the church, the schools and the community, was Judy’s calling. Music always remained paramount in her life, even shipping her piano to Libya and then back to New York! All four of her daughters played piano, among other instruments. Judy was known to excuse a daughter from washing dishes if that daughter happened to be (conveniently) practicing the piano after supper.

Judy was a lifelong Baptist, most recently a member of First Baptist Church, Austin, Texas (since 1998), and before that Kingsland Baptist Church in Katy, Texas. She was an avid reader (especially of mysteries), had a wonderfully understated sense of humor, and was invariably kind and caring. She loved being with her family, especially with her grandchildren.

Judy was preceded in death by her daughter, Jennifer Deaven of Delafield, Wisconsin, and three siblings: brother Darrel McFarland and sister Terry Kimbrough (both of Fayetteville, Arkansas), and brother Charles McFarland of Spokane, Washington.

Her surviving family includes her husband, Charles Corkill, and daughters Cynthia Corkill and husband Stephen Stappenbeck of Austin; Melody Reynolds and husband Michael of Norfolk, VA; and Rebecca Rose and husband Andrew of Austin. One son-in-law: David Deaven of Delafield, Wisconsin. One sister: Phyllis Barnett of Charlotte, North Carolina. Her grandchildren include Erin Nitzberg of Houston, Texas; Joshua Nitzberg of Austin; Aidan Deaven and Mia Deaven of Delafield, Wisconsin; Augusten Stappenbeck and Charlotte Stappenbeck of Austin.

Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church of Austin, 901 Trinity St., Austin, TX 78701.