Duane L. Corbin

Duane L. Corbin 85, went home to be with the Lord on Friday, February 13, 2009, at Allison House Assisted Living, Schofield. Duane was a veteran of the United States Army assigned as a sniper and was wounded on Omaha Beach in Normandy as part of the D-Day invasion in June of 1944. Following the war, Duane returned home to Gary, Ind. to marry his high school sweetheart and the love of his life, Hannah Evans. Duane graduated with a degree in Forestry from Michigan Technological University in Houghton. He went on to complete graduate work at Yosemite Field School of Natural History, where he studied photography under Ansel Adams. In 1951, Duane began his career with the Wisconsin Conservation Department where he spent a year in Antigo as a Forest Ranger, then three years as a wildlife manager for the NE area, followed by ten years in Wausau as a District Game Manager. During his tenure as a wildlife manager, he developed the Mead Wildlife Area, Ackley Wildlife Area, McMillan, Nine Mile and Navarino Wildlife Areas, preserving these important wetlands and woodlands in the public domain. Duane then joined the Wausau and Marathon County Park Commission in September of 1964. As the city and county parks director, he carried his land acquisition and development talents forward into the county realm. The list of Marathon County parks that he either purchased or developed is a list of the county's major natural assetsa