Foster Corbin

Foster Corbin, formerly of Morristown, Tennessee, passed away on February 16, 2018. He was born June 23, 1941, the son of Frank and Virginia McCoy Corbin and twin brother of Frankie Corbin.

After serving in the Air Force, Foster received a Bachelor of Arts from Carson-Newman College and a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Tennessee. He embarked on a teaching career, which took him to Central Missouri State College and Jacksonville University. He later worked as a court reporter while attending law school at night. He received his Juris Doctorate from Woodrow Wilson College of Law in 1977.

Known for insight and compassion, Foster spent most of his career defending the rights of others. From 1990 until his retirement in 2011, he worked at Metro Fair Housing Services, an Atlanta agency that fights against discrimination in housing and lending practices. He became Metro’s executive director in 1997. Foster was dedicated to social justice and civil rights and was a champion for the poor and disenfranchised. He marched in one of the first Gay Pride marches in Atlanta, volunteered at the Atlanta Gay Center where he spent many hours on the helpline, attended the March on Washington and many AIDS Quilt displays. Not to mention the number of gay friends he buried who died so young from AIDS.

Foster had a passion for the arts. He had an eclectic taste in music and was equally at home at a bluegrass show, the opera, symphony hall, or Spivey Hall where he served as a volunteer usher. His eye for photography distinguished him as a true artist. He was an excellent storyteller, with a biting sense of humor that deflated the pompous, relieved tense situations, and was always grounded in a truth.

Foster is preceded in death by his parents, his brother, and his niece, Amie Corbin Jessie. He is survived by sister-in-law, Edie Corbin, nieces Lisa Williamson, Jane (Mark) Williams, and Cyndi Bryant; nephew, Jason Jessie and great-nephews Ian Jessie, Ben, Daniel and Andrew Williams, Jackson and Cooper Bryant; great niece Sarah Bryant, as well as a multitude of friends.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 on March 17th at A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home in Decatur, Georgia. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Lost-n-Found Youth, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that exists to end homelessness for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+), and all sexual minority youth. Donations can be made at https://lnfy.org/