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Obituary

A passion for politics, and no loss for words

Bette Lou Corcoran wrote to politicians so artfully that they actually read her scathing letters. She died at age 80.

By MARTY CLEAR
Published January 20, 2006

BETTE LOU CORCORAN, 1925-2005

BAYSHORE GARDENS - Besides her family and her Catholic faith, Bette Lou Corcoran's strongest passion was for politics. She was a frequent caller to C-SPAN, always on the Republican line, and delighted in writing eloquent letters to politicians with whom she disagreed.

One day, after writing a scathing letter to then U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., the phone rang in her Bayshore Gardens home. It was Gephardt.

"Why do you dislike me so much?" Gephardt asked.

"How much time do you have?" Mrs. Corcoran said.

It was a proud moment for Mrs. Corcoran, who died Dec. 29 at age 80 from complications of surgery.

"Mother was very intelligent, even though she never went to college," said her son, Tampa attorney C. Timothy Corcoran III. "She would write these letters with such clever phrasing that they'd catch the eye of the person who opened the mail."

There was one other call Mrs. Corcoran delighted in recounting. She got on the air with Rush Limbaugh.

It wasn't easy getting past Limbaugh's screeners. But Mrs. Corcoran got through by feigning indignation.

Limbaugh had criticized President Clinton for pardoning several criminals before he left office. President George W. Bush hadn't pardoned anyone, Limbaugh said.

Mrs. Corcoran scolded Limbaugh for getting the facts wrong. Limbaugh apologetically asked whom Bush had pardoned.

"He pardoned the turkey on Thanksgiving," Mrs. Corcoran said.

Mrs. Corcoran was born Bette Lou Hohl in Kansas City, Mo. She met her husband, Timothy, at a high school football game.

"She was sitting in front of him and he asked her to be quiet because she wasn't paying attention to the game, she was gabbing with her friend," her son said. "So there was a little bit of hostility in their first meeting."

She was a gifted singer, and when she was 16 renowned bandleader Paul Whiteman offered her a job touring the Midwest with his orchestra. Her parents wouldn't let her accept because she was so young.

Years later, Oscar Hammerstein offered her the role of Ado Annie in a world tour of Oklahoma! But by that time she had a husband and a young son.

She must have been disappointed, her son said, but she never let it show.

"She was not angry or bitter about roads never taken," he said. "She just sang beautifully at home."

Her husband was a Marine who served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. After several moves with her family, she settled in St. Petersburg while he was in Vietnam, and he joined her after he left the service. They lived in Venetian Isles until the 1980s, when they moved into a townhouse off Bayshore Boulevard.

She was a longtime member of Christ the King Catholic Church.

Mrs. Corcoran passed away during surgery to remove benign tumors from her lungs. At her memorial, her son recalled a conversation he had with a priest a few days before she died.

"I remarked to Father Sean that I did not know how I could go on if I lost her," he said. "Without hesitating a moment, Father Sean said, "Of course, you can. Bette Lou taught you how.' And she did."

In addition to her son, Mrs. Corcoran is survived by a sister, Shirley Reardon. She was preceded in death by her husband.

[Last modified January 19, 2006, 08:43:07]