Funeral Service For Michael ‘Red’ Corso
Funeral service for Drum Corps Associates (DCA) treasurer Michael ‘Red’ Corso, a member of the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame since 1991, will be held at Holy Ghost Church, 472 Atwells Ave. on historic Federal Hill in Providence, Rhode Island on Monday August 25 at 10 am. He passed away the morning of Wednesday August 20 after being hospitalized a few days earlier following a serious fall.
Burial will follow in Swan Point Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be directed to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Online condolences may be shared at WoodlawnGattone.com
He is survived by wife Teresa (Turcone) Corso. They had two children; Michael John Corso (deceased) and Elaine M. Warzycha. He is survived by four grandchildren and five great grand children.
Visitation will be Sunday August 24 from 1 to 7 pm at Woodlawn Funeral Home, 600 Pontiac Ave. in Cranston, Rhode Island.
He was first elected DCA treasurer in 1974 and had held the office continually ever since, making him the longest-serving officer of DCA.
He founded the Rhode Island Matadors drum and bugle corps in 1969, recognized as one of the top units in the country until disbanding in 1987. He also founded the Longhorns, Skylarks and Picadors in Bristol, Rhode Island just a few years after founding the Matadors. Formers members of the Skylarks joined with the members of Holy Rosary Caballeros to form the Matadors.
His drum and bugle corps activity began with Boy Scout Troop 77 of St. John’s Church in Providence. At one time he instructed both the brass and percussion sections of Troop 77 and the brass section of the Longhorns. He also served as corps director of Troop 77 and the Matadors. He also served as president of the Matadors Alumni Association, helping to organize the group’s 30th anniversary events in 1999 including performances by the reunion corps at various events including an exhibition at the DCA world championship tournament in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
He served as a member of the Rhode Island Drum Corps Association, the Greater New England Yankee Circuit and on the executive board of the Red Carpet Association.
The late Vince Bruni of Rochester, New York, who passed away in 2003, founded the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame in 1976. Membership has since grown from six charter members – Vince Bruni, George Bull, Jim Costello, Henry “Lefty” Mayer, Harvey Olderman, Vinnie Ratford – to 472 regular and associate members from the United States and Canada who have contributed to the activity across North America, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Middle East, South Africa and Japan.
For more information about the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame, visit the web site at: http://www.worlddrumcorpshof.org/
