Toni Lynne Corley

Toni was born in Seattle on January 18, 1945, to Wilson and Martha Peterson. The family lived in Edmonds, Washington where Toni attended public school and graduated from Edmonds Senior High School in 1963. She briefly attended Eastern Washington State College before marrying Tom Corn in 1964 – they met on a beach in Hawaii while she was there on vacation (high school graduation gift), and he was in the Navy. Toni and Tom then briefly lived in Portland and Los Angeles before settling in Boise where their only child (Ty) was born. After about 18 years of marriage and seemingly endless landscaping projects, Toni and Tom divorced (it happens). In 1985 Toni married Don Corley and they lived in west Boise. During this time, they hosted several foreign exchange students and made a significant difference in their lives. Several years later they moved from Boise to Kuna, lived on 7 acres, and sometimes boarded horses. Toni did not believe that a house could be a home without a dog – accordingly, various dogs – generally yellow labs (two of which had the same name), schnauzers, a beagle, and a few mutts came and went. The house in Kuna came with a cat, that despite her allergy, became a loved member of the pet family. They both finished up their careers and retired in 1999 - Don retired from the US Forest Service and Toni from a variety of jobs ranging from a checker at Albertson’s to various clerical positions at medical offices. Their first summer of retirement was spent fishing in Alaska. Thereafter they went to Alaska every other summer as a compromise to Toni’s passion for gardening – both vegetables and flowers. Her favorite pastimes were cooking (which was sometimes a money maker), gardening, and reading. As the property became challenging to manage, they moved back to Boise – a few years later Don passed away.

She enjoyed various card and board games, and as was often clear, she liked winning. With her friend Z, she loved painting rocks to look like any number of things from flowers to a large M&M with a bite out of it. Prior to the last five years, she kept in physical shape through rigorous walking to the tune of personalized playlists where each song had to have just the right mood and cadence.

One of the main things that defined Toni was a longtime commitment to volunteer work – this started in the 1970s when she assisted elderly people in the community with food shopping and various chores. Later she was involved with a company that makes sandals that adapt to larger sizes as a child grows – surprisingly, having decent footwear can greatly improve health and access to education. At age 65 she volunteered coaching 4th grade girls in jump rope. For almost 15 years she volunteered preparing food for unhoused people in the community.

She believed that volunteering is a defining trait of what it means to be a responsible and caring human – she would encourage you to find ways to give back – especially if you have the good fortune of being in a position to do so. She found community and support through the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship – a group that agreed with her strongly held values. She was fortunate to have a group of close friends – many of whom were with her to the end.

She is survived by her son Ty (Jane), stepchildren Julie (Bob) and David (Nilza), grandchildren Lillian, Thomas, and Truman, and great grandchildren Nash, Ellie, and Kash (who arrived just a few days after her passing). She is also survived by the foreign exchange students (who were integrated into her life – Vladamir and Veronica) and her many friends (forgive me if I left someone out) - (in alphabetical order): Delores, Diana, Diane, Joan, Kay, Nubia, Pam, Pat, Patty, Teresa, and Z. Thanks to all of you for the support you gave Toni.

Arrangements are under the direction of Bowman Funeral parlor of Garden City.