THOMAS E. CORRON, 1941-2005 Ex-Sylvania officer formed detective unit
10/29/2005Thomas E. Corron, 64, an investigator for many years who formed the Sylvania Police Division's detective bureau, died of esophageal cancer Wednesday in his Sylvania Township home.
His condition was diagnosed in July, and he worked until mid-August for Viox Services, a firm that provides maintenance services for Fifth Third Bank branches.
Mr. Corron formerly investigated fraud for Charter One Bank.
From 2000 to 2004, he was a fraud investigator and training officer for Fifth Third.
He retired from Sylvania police in 1994 after 26 years.
"He was the only detective Sylvania had when I started," said Chief Gerald Sobb, who joined the Sylvania force in 1972 and became a detective, working for Mr. Corron four years later.
"He designed [the bureau], and he was well respected in the Toledo area in policing for his investigative skills.
"He came across as that all-American guy, that nice guy," Chief Sobb said. "And yet the wheels were turning, and that made him such an effective investigator. You might think you're tricking him, but you're not. He could talk at a lot of different levels."
Mr. Corron tried to help young people, and he had a keen sense of intuition, his daughter, Sheri Jenkins, said.
"He liked complex problems," his daughter said.
"He could talk to people and make them laugh or be serious or just get information out of people that they wouldn't expect to say to anybody else."
Mr. Corron was a former Sylvania officer of the year and had received the Sylvania Police Star.
He grew up in West Toledo and attended Woodward High School. He later worked for his father's roofing and sheet metal business.
In his teens, he raced hydroplanes.
With a wife and family, he followed racing from the sidelines, attending events at Toledo Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, and Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.
Yet he drove a go-kart for the Fifth Third team in the annual Junior Achievement Grand Prix downtown.
Each year, his vehicle had mechanical problems and didn't win.
He attended this year's Aug. 4 race, but he wasn't able to drive. His son, Tom, Jr., drove the Fifth Third cart, emblazoned with Lance Armstrong "Live Strong" decals, to victory.
He was a member of St. Joseph Church.
He was a former member of the Marine Corps Reserves.
Surviving are his wife, Jean, whom he married Jan. 27, 1962; daughter, Sheri Jenkins; son, Tom, Jr.; mother, Alfreda Corron; sister, Janice Pickard; brother, Gerald Corron, and six grandchildren.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday in the Reeb Mortuary, where the body will be after 3 p.m. tomorrow.
The family suggests tributes to the city police widows and orphans fund or Hospice of Northwest Ohio.