BLUEFIELD - Leslie C. "Corky" Caldwell Jr., a former school board president, died Saturday at a Bluefield hospital. Caldwell, 70, had resided at 1309 Larchmont, Bluefield. Born in Princeton, he was a son of the late L.C. and Daisy Keaton Caldwell. He was a graduate of Princeton High School and Concord College, and received his master's degree from West Virginia University. He worked for Nationwide Insurance for 32 years, retiring as a District Office Claims manager. He was a member of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church of Bluefield. Caldwell served as a 1st lieutenant in the Third Army, U.S. Army, in the European Theater during World War II. He was a former member and past president of the Mercer County Board of Education, past president of the Mercer County Opportunity Workshop and past president of the Bluefield Lions Club. Caldwell was an Arkansas Traveler and a Kentucky Colonel. He was a member of the Parish Council, Presidents Club of Concord College, the He Man Association and the American Legion Riley Vest Post. He was a former coach at Graham, Princeton and Bluefield high schools.
Caldwell was preceded in death by two sisters, Selma Drescher and Edith Collier, and a brother, Frank Caldwell. Survivors: wife, Alena Romano Caldwell; daughter, Beth C. Hash of Bluefield; son, Mark Caldwell of Bluefield; sister, Mrs. A.K. (Betty) Bailey of Ravenswood; and five grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, with Father Larry Wrenn officiating. Burial will follow at the Roselawn Memorial Gardens at Princeton. Military graveside rites will be conducted by the American Legion Post 175, Sandy River District. Friends may call from 7 to 9 p.m. today at the Mercer Funeral Home, where a Christian Wake Service will be held at 8 p.m. Contributions can be made to the American Parkinson's Disease Association Inc., 60 Bay Street, Suite 401, Statton Island. NY 10301.
[Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Mon, July 5, 1993]