Groce Funeral Home obituary:
Bobby Delano Corn, 65, of 178 Pinners Cove Road, Asheville, NC, died Tuesday, August 8, 2000, at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville, Va. He was born at Hendersonville on January 26, 1935, a son of the late Dewey & Beverly (Moody) Corn and grandson of the late Horace & Fannie (McCarson) Corn and Joel Washington & Mary Rebecca (McCall) Moody. He also was preceded in death by a brother, Raymond Corn.
Mr. Corn was a graduate of Hendersonville High School, class of 1953, retired with the rank of Senior Master Sergeant from the U.S. Air Force following twenty-two years of service and attended UNC-Asheville for 4 years working toward a BS degree in Management. Mr. Corn was the founder and publisher of IWANNA, Inc. of Asheville and Greenville, SC and founder of IWANNA, Inc. in Hickory. He was a member of Arden Presbyterian Church, was a Golden Chief at Florida State University, a member of the Independent Automobile Association and the N.C. Newspapers Association.
Mr. Corn married Katherine (Haden) Corn, daughter of the late C. V. & Neva (Loven) Haden, on July 1, 1956. In addition to his wife, he is survived by three daughters, Deborah McCart of Asheville, Valerie Hudson and her husband, Ray of Greenville, SC, Robin Graham and her husband, Mark of Asheville; five grandchildren, Austin, Tyler, and Dylan McCart, Marshall Hudson and Jordan Graham; his stepmother Clara Corn of Hendersonville and a sister, Brenda Corn Laney of Asheville. Also surviving are aunts and uncles, Edna Corn of Hendersonville, Jewel and Fred Brooks of Hendersonville, Walt and Kitty Corn of Asheville, Art and Mattie Corn of Charlotte, Edith and Chad Case of Canton, Eula Mae Odom of Hendersonville and many cousins who loved him dearly.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, August 13th in the sanctuary of Arden Presbyterian Church with the Revs. Ed Graham and Gus Schill officiating. Interment will follow in Green Hills Cemetery with military graveside rites conducted by the Enka High School Air Force ROTC unit.
The family will receive friends from 7 until 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the chapel of Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian on Long Shoals Rd.
Greenville News
Saturday, August 12, 2000
Bobby D. Corn, 65, of 178 Pinners Cove Road, died Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2000, at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville, Va., where he had been awaiting a heart transplant.
Mr. Corn was the founder and publisher of IWANNA Inc. of Asheville and Greenville, and founder of IWANNA Inc. in Hickory.
Mr. Corn married Katherine Haden Corn, July 1, 1956. In addition to his wife, he is survived by three daughters, Deborah McCart of Asheville, Valerie Hudson and her husband, Ray, of Greenville, and Robin Graham and her husband, Mark, of Asheville; five grandchildren, Austin, Tyler, and Dylan McCart, Marshall Hudson and Jordan Graham; his stepmother, Clara Corn of Hendersonville; and a sister, Brenda Corn Laney of Asheville. Also surviving are a number of aunts and uncles and many cousins who loved him dearly.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 13, in the sanctuary of Arden Presbyterian Church.
The family will receive friends from 7 to 8:30 p.m. today in the chapel of Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian on Long Shoals Road in Arden, N.C
Borrowed from the IWANNA web page.
It is no accident that to the people of Western North Carolina, the name "IWANNA" is synonymous with classified advertising. Several years and several million ads have made it the area buyers' choice in a way few people would have believed possible when our first edition came out in April, 1976.
Two people who never doubted the ultimate success and growth of the paper are Bob and Kathy Corn. Bobby D. Corn, the son of Dewey and Beverly Moody Corn of Balfour, N.C., a graduate of Hendersonville High School, and retired after 21 years in the U.S. Air Force. Katherine Haden Corn is the daughter of C.V. and Neva Loven Haden of Asheville, a graduate of Sand Hill High School and Pfeiffer College. The balance of the Corn family consists of three daughters: Deborah C. McCart, Valerie C. Hudson and Robin C. Graham.
The original concept of the paper came to the Corns long before the first issue went to press. In the course of their travels during Bob's years in the United States Air Force, they often dreamed of being able to settle down in the mountains to run a business of their own. Initially, the paper was to have been Kathy's project - a way for her to be constructively employed while Bob earned a living for the family in some other field.
As it happened, however, the publication was begun under Bob's direction. It was not long before the business had grown to the point that both he and Kathy, as well as several employees, were required to keep up with the demand for quality classified advertising.
IWANNA® is a service-oriented publication - designed to provide the most convenient method available anywhere for getting buyers and sellers of both new and used merchandise together. The 'little paper' that the Corns once envisioned as Kathy's business now provides Western North Carolina, the Western Piedmont of North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina with the largest and most widely read weekly shopping guides in the Carolinas.
From the simple beginning, the paper grew rapidly, until soon the first office was too small to contain the operation. After a brief stay in an office on Market Street and the addition of Kathy, (who resigned her job from the health department to help Bob run the business), a secretary and a salesman; the operation was moved, in December 1978, to Patton Avenue, then in November 1982 moved to 84 Coxe Avenue. In 1998 IWANNA® moved into its new 40,000 square foot plant in South Asheville. The growth of IWANNA® continues, with a staff numbering over 50 and growing, and the addition of one of the most versatile and sophisticated computer typesetting systems available and an 8-unit Goss Press. You can be sure, IWANNA®'s history is just beginning.
In addition to the Flagship IWANNA® in Asheville, Bob and Kathy began a HickoryIWANNA® in 1980, now a franchised company. Also a company-owned Greenville, SC operation was initiated in 1988. Each has its own new, large facilities and growth that tracks the Asheville model.
Company founder, Bobby D. Corn died on August 8, 2000. The business remains a family business.
