Raymond C. Corkran, Jr., was a pioneer in the Harford Green development, where property records list his home as Lot 1 in its subdivision, and his dog Cal had been known as a neighborhood ambassador.
“Ray and his late wife Phyllis were the first ones to welcome us to the neighborhood,” said Diana Cline, who lives several houses away. “They made us a plate of pastries and cookies. He was kind and thoughtful and humorous and a joy to be around.
” Corkran, 73, was killed Sunday morning when as a result of a gas leak. A BGE contractor, Jose Rodriguez-Alvarado, 35, was also killed in the blast. Rodriguez-Alvarado worked for an Arbutus-based electrical contracting company called Hammer’s Powerline Maintenance, according to Maryland Department of Labor spokesperson Jamie Mangrum.
He had been sent to the Bel Air home in response to electrical issues. Representatives for the contracting company, which also does business as Hammer’s Underground Maintenance, did not return multiple calls and emails requesting comment. State and federal agencies, including the Maryland fire marshal and the National Transportation Safety Board, are .
Cline was among several neighbors who said they had been thrown from their beds by the force of the blast around 6:40 a.m. Sunday morning.
Nearby houses were damaged, some so severely that 12 families have been displaced. She called Corkran an “anchor” in the friendly community, where cookouts, Christmas parties and other gatherings are held throughout the year. Neighbors said he occasionally attended, particularly in the past when his wife was alive.
Neighbors say the home was for sale, and Corkran had been moving some of his possessions out in preparation for leaving. “It was a big, beautiful home, with a back patio,” said Chuck Laubach, a neighbor. While some news accounts have said Corkran used a wheelchair, Laubach and others said it was only occasionally as he grew older and had some medical issues.
Cline described him as a big, linebacker-sized man with an old Baltimore accent who loved sports and had a lot of memorabilia in his home. He had a small, white dog, a rescue, that died several years ago, who was named after the Orioles great and Harford native, Cal Ripken. “Cal used to sit next to the front door, and would run to greet us,” said Cline, a program analyst at the Aberdeen Proving Ground.
Corkran had a doggie door between the garage and the home, allowing Cal to come and go as he pleased, Cline said. According to a September 2018 death notice published in The Baltimore Sun for his wife Phyllis, The couple had one son, who shares his father’s name, and two grandchildren. She died after a lengthy illness, according to the death notice, which listed their dog Cal as a survivor.
Corkran’s son and other family members could not be reached on Tuesday. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner completed autopsies on both Corkran and Rodriguez-Alvarado on Monday but the reports were not yet finalized, a spokeswoman, Stephanie Moore, said Tuesday..
