Bill McCorkle, my friend, was the son of a developer in Central Ohio, the latter of whom had many notable, high profile projects to his name.
Bill, in his own right, made his own mark on the Central Ohio property scene. As a Realtor, golf community developer, and so much more. I met Bill about 10 years ago on a dreary, rainy day in the somewhat rural suburban community of Lewis Center, Ohio at his Little Bear Golf Course project. I was president of a statewide organization of investment real estate Exchangors and wealth advisers at the time. When I first joined the organization, we met in the basement of a local Masonic Lodge. A few years later, we moved to a vacant training area belonging to a small business telecom business. That company changed hands and we were told that we needed to get our stuff out -- with about 12 hours notice.
That's when Tony Yacoub, who was my vice president, and Mike Lane, a long time national exchangor, suggested we meet Bill McCorkle. Bill had developed Little Bear, a beautiful high-end homes community surrounding an executive golf course. Bill's sense of humor, which I soon came to know, came through in the name he chose for his development. Columbus area native and well known pro golfer Jack Nicklaus -- the "Golden Bear" -- had created Muirfield Village Golf Course in nearby Dublin. Just as beautiful a course, but on the smaller side being a Par 3 layout, Bill laid out his "Little Bear" Course -- a beautiful clubhouse facility, which was fairly new and only now being promoted for organizational meetings, weddings, holiday parties, or what have you.
The four of us met at the facility on that (literally) dark and stormy afternoon and we quickly knew it would work for our needs. Bill even graciously heavily discounted the weekly meeting space rental just so we would give it a try. There were members of our organization who said the new meeting place was too far north. Worse, some suggested, it was in Delaware County. "We should be meeting in Franklin County," they said. In those first weeks when we met at Little Bear, we had fairly strong membership representation. Only a handful of people stayed away. But eventually, they came back. And all came to realize this had been a good move.
Bill and I quickly became friends outside of the professional arrangement that began our meeting. I learned he was a pro bowler. And a GOOD one! In fact, the Professional Bowlers Association had a write up on him a day after his passing.
Even though he owned the facility and was always there helping put out coffee on Thursday mornings, at first Bill didn't attend our Exchangor meetings. One day he shrugged his shoulders and told me he probably should be going. As far as I know, after that he never missed a weekly meeting unless he had an appointment to show the facility to prospective users. And by attending those meetings, ultimately he did several deals with agents and other developers in the room. Which is the purpose of gatherings of experts in 1031 tax-deferred exchanges -- no matter where they occur.
Bill McCorkle, 62, died last week after a brief battle with cancer.
I had no idea he had been ill. We exchanged emails every couple of months after I moved to Florida several years ago. But he never let on bout his situation. Not once. I am told he only shared with our fellow practitioners in the Midwest after his began losing weight and it became obvious something was wrong.
I will miss him. I will miss his creativity, his smile, his willingness to go the extra mile. In fact, the OCREE organization this year decided to create a "Give An Extra Inch" special award to be presented periodically to members who go above and beyond to take care of their clients, to make a difference in a transaction, and to help their fellow practitioners. Accordingly, the initial recipient was to be Bill McCorkle himself.
Bill did not live to accept the award, nor did he know what was in the works. Still, I know he would be pleased, and humbled at the same time.
And smiling ...
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