ROSCOE — Fay E. Cork, 80, of Roscoe, a former Paxton dairy farmer, died at 4:04 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, surrounded by his family. 

A funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at Holy Family Catholic Church, 4401 Highcrest Road, Rockford, with Father Mulcahey officiating.  Entombment will be at Calvary Catholic Cemetery.  Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until time of the service at the church.

Mr. Cork was born Aug. 31, 1931, in Illiana, the son of Alfred and Blanche (Close) Cork.  He married Marianne Stuppy in Miesenbach, Germany, on March 21, 1953.   She survives in Roscoe.

Also surviving are daughters Patricia DeLeo of Rockford, Susan (Ken) Kaltenbach of Yorkville and Sandra Erby of DeForest, Wis.;  sons Dan (Peggy) of Belvidere, Ron of Kansas City, Mo., Randy of Sun Prairie, Wis., and Steven (Lilibeth) of Australia;  10 grandchildren;  three great-grandchildren; and a brother, Darwin “Butch.”

He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Alfred Jr. “Bud”; a sister-in-law, Nancy; and a son-in-law, Nick DeLeo.

Mr. Cork was a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, serving for three years (1951-1953) in the 862nd Engineer Aviation Battalion in Germany.  After his service in the Army, he operated a dairy farm in Paxton, before moving to Belvidere in 1965. 

Mr. Cork was a graduate of Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee. He worked as a manufacturing engineer for GTE in Genoa for 18 years until 1987, and then for Dyna Corp in Rockford. He retired in 1991 and spent the next 15 years living in Pardeeville, Wis. In 2006, he moved to Roscoe to be closer to family. 

Mr. Cork enjoyed gardening, fishing and riding his John Deere tractor.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial will be established to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. 

Condolences or memories can be shared online at www.honquestfh.com.