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Richard Corbin, businessman

Richard M. Corbin on a golf course "was meticulous," said his friend of 50 years, Joseph P. Johnson. "Especially in tournaments," the sort of member-guest events they played in Moorestown, where Mr. Corbin lived, and in Arizona, where Johnson now lives.

Richard M. Corbin
Richard M. CorbinRead more

Richard M. Corbin on a golf course "was meticulous," said his friend of 50 years, Joseph P. Johnson.

"Especially in tournaments," the sort of member-guest events they played in Moorestown, where Mr. Corbin lived, and in Arizona, where Johnson now lives.

"He was an excellent golfer," Johnson said. "Especially at reading the breaks on a green."

It figured. In finance and as an engineer, Mr. Corbin was, Johnson said, "very meticulous."

Mr. Corbin, 81, of Moorestown, a former executive for an institutional brokerage in Pennington, N.J., died of pancreatic cancer Tuesday, Oct. 25, at home.

Born in New York City, Mr. Corbin graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1953 and earned a bachelor's in 1957 and a master's in electrical engineering in 1959, both at the former Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.

After belonging to an Army ROTC group in college, he served part-time for 10 years with an Army Reserve unit.

In 1961, Mr. Corbin joined a Radio Corp. of America office in Riverton as an electrical engineering manager and was sent by RCA to help manage an Air Force base in Greenland.

After he and his wife, Sally, were married in 1963 on Treasure Island, Fla., he earned a master's in finance at the Wharton School in the mid-1960s and returned to the new business programs division of RCA in Princeton.

In the early 1970s, Mr. Corbin joined with other former RCA officials to form Optel Corp. in Princeton, which, his wife said, produced the first liquid crystal display watch.

In the 1980s, Mr. Corbin became a financial planner in New York City for the venture capital arm of Exxon and later for the former regional investment banking firm Howard, Lawson & Co. in Philadelphia.

Since 2004, he had been with H. Rivkin & Co., an institutional brokerage firm in Pennington.

Johnson first met the Corbins when they were apartment neighbors in Delran in the 1960s.

"One of his characteristics," Johnson said of Mr. Corbin, "was that he was very bright and very creative" in each of his careers.

Johnson retired in 1997 as executive vice president of the New York Stock Exchange.

Beyond his careers, Mr. Corbin was at times the president and treasurer for the Moorestown Field Club.

Besides his wife, Mr. Corbin is survived by his mother, Helen; son Richard L.; daughters Sarah Dietz and Jessica DeBear; eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

A visitation was set from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, at the First Presbyterian Church, 101 Bridgeboro Rd., Moorestown, N.J. 08057, with a memorial service there at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 28. Interment is to be private.

Donations may be sent to the church at the above address.

Condolences may be offered to the family at www.lewisfuneralhomemoorestown.com.

wnaedele@phillynews.com

610-313-8134 @WNaedele