his frustrations and his fears. He drank heavily until
he became an alcoholic. He joined the AA (Alcoholics
Anonymous) in 1981 and has been sober since then.
He picked up strength and became a prominent
businessman, owning his company known as “Corbin
Services,” a catering business that he owned for over
twenty-five years. He volunteered his time to numerous
organizations and worked his way up to being director of
the Lions Club for two years, director for the Chamber
of Commerce for four years, chairmanship as town
selectmen for 6 of his 12 years, and director of the
Aroostook County Action Program (ACAP) for five years.
He served on the Advisory Committee and the Legislative
Policy Committee of the Maine Municipal Association
and was part of the Northern Maine Regional Planning
Commission. He received the honors of Citizen of the
Year, Young Man of America, and received the State of
Maine Jefferson Award. He also was affiliated with the
Cancer Society for the District County de Madawaska,
New Brunswick, Canada and has raised thousands of
dollars for them.
What makes Dick an outstanding individual is
that he accomplished all these even though he has been
stricken with Hodgkin’s disease since 1969.
But all through his dark years and low points of
his cancer existence, Dick made a pact with God that if
God would spare his life for as long as he could, he would
build a special place for cancer victims to go to. He kept
his Promise and started building in 1991. He named it
“Mizpah,” a Hebrew word that means “A place to help
one another.” Mizpah is a sanctuary place located up in
Northern Maine in Aroostook County in a town known
as Grand Isle.
Over the years Mizpah has grown and became
a non-profit status, has a seven-member board of
directors in place and is valued close to a quarter of a
million dollars. It is a place to gather, help, support,
and to comfort each other. They come to experience
the emotional bond between people in hopes of lifting
the pain of grief. Mizpah’s family is big and covers
visitors from all over Canada and the United States. The
grounds are opened from May to October and is being
visited by over five thousand visitors per season all FREE
OF CHARGE. Over twelve buildings are situated on
a fourteen-acre lot with an additional seventy-five acres
with marvelous landscaping for people to enjoy. A
reflecting pond stocked with rainbow trout is amongst
the buildings overlooking the Cancer Survivor Wall,
dedicating past and living cancer people. The Wall is
also utilized to honor non-cancer people in memory of
WINTER 2012 Mizpah 35