Stephen Alexander Corum

U.S. Navy Vietnam Veteran

May 8, 1948 - July 6, 2026

Stephen Alexander Corum of Glen Ridge NJ, songwriter, singer and musician, passed away too soon at age 78 on July 6, 2026, after years of creating and performing beautiful lyrical songs with emotional and powerfully poetic storytelling in a life full of music and love. Stephen ("Steve") Corum, originally of Dayton, Ohio, was for over 52 years a loving partner with Therese ("Terry") Brady, Esq. originally of Hicksville, NY. Steve died of multiple complications following leg amputation surgery at Morristown Medical Center, Morristown NJ.

Steve grew up in Dayton Ohio, where he attended Fairview High School and often fondly retold stories of camaraderie shared with classmates and friends, including the Tolle twins and the late Mike Tolle, CEO of Dolly Packaging. After his father, Taft R. Corum, died when he was merely 16 years of age, Steve went on to graduate Fairview and attend The Ohio State University, but left to enlist as a radar specialist with high security clearance in the U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War. Steve was a "Blue Water Navy" Vietnam Veteran who served honorably on the destroyer USS Herbert J. Thomas DD833/DDR833 and often spoke of friendships with shipmates onboard from all over the United States. Back in the U.S. after completing his service, Steve attended Florida State Community College for a while before setting his sights on the promise and bright lights of New York City. Just prior to settling in Manhattan, Steve formed a band with the late Ray Jardine of Liberty NY and honed his craft upstate with Ray in various Sullivan county venues.

Steve met Terry in Soho in the early 1970s while performing in showcases on Bleeker Street. For much of his life, Steve made his home with Terry, who was by his side in the Kips Bay area of Manhattan and then in lovely gaslight lined Glen Ridge New Jersey. Steve was a local activist for change in Glen Ridge and a regular contributor of letters to the Glen Ridge Voice and other papers. As just one example, Steve's voice was instrumental in proposing and getting support for revising the routing of traffic on nearby Hathaway Place and changing it to a dead end street to make it a safer place to live and play.

In the music and advertising industry in midtown Manhattan, Steve worked as a talented and much requested music editor for such giants in the industry as Corelli Jacobs De Wolfe and won Clios ("Oscars of the Advertising Industry") for excellence in the field. Steve started his own music and sound effects company Museffects in midtown Manhattan and owned a recording studio on East 26th Street across from Madison Square Park. Steve also travelled to the other side of the Iron Curtain to East Germany in the early 70s for music trade shows to demonstrate and create a market overseas for pioneering guitar pedals (such as the Big Muff Fuzz and Electric Mistress flanger) for Mike Matthews of world renowned Electro-Harmonix (EHX). 

Stephen was pre-deceased by both parents, Taft R. Corum, a respected Dayton Ohio banker at Winters Bank, founded in 1851 and one of Dayton's most prominent financial institutions, and Betty Lou Corum. His grandmother, Lena Taft, had deep roots in Ashland, Kentucky and was a descendant of the American legacy Taft family.

Steve died as he lived, fighting with his strong yet incredibly gentle-natured essence diabetes and kidney disease with many years spent on dialysis that robbed him of his freedom and mobility. He died only one day after a left leg amputation, a valiant and courageous battle in his persistent struggle for survival and continued life. In 2021, at the height of the pandemic, he was hospitalized with an infection that led to an operation after which he could no longer play his beloved acoustic Martin guitar or Roland digital piano.Yet over all this, Steve never let go of the belief that someday somehow he would get that kidney transplant for a better life and resume the world travels begun with his service in the Navy.

 Steve's very last days were immeasurably comforted by a dedicated professional and great friend personal trainer Fariba Sylvander of Clifton NJ, whose steadfast unwavering kindness served as a beacon of hope to both Steve and Terry during those difficult final days.

Above all, Steve was a songwriter, but he was also a singer with a stunningly beautiful high range. He sang Off-Off Broadway in the production "The Only Good Indian" at Crystal Fields' Theater For The New City. Steve's song lyrics were often mystical and haunting: "I can still hear you singing in a crowded room/I can still hear you singing every day/Oh the seasons come and go and I'm alone again/I taste salty caresses on the ocean spray/I taste salty caresses on the ocean spray aye aye oh aye" (©️ Stephen Corum) He also wrote with a wry wit: "I met a lady the other day/She was a waitress at an all night cafe/She walked up to me and said--man what's your beef?/Flounder--I said if you please/Flounder--I said if you please"(©️ Stephen Corum)

Steve's lifelong partner Terry lovingly remembers her "blonde baby" extremely and strikingly handsome Steve (who was blond as a child) from Dayton Ohio as "no one like you. You are greatly loved and greatly missed."

Stephen Corum is currently at Caggiano Funeral Home, 62 Grove St. Montclair NJ. Subsequently, Mr. Corum will be interred with full military honors at the Dayton Memorial Park Cemetery and Mausoleum in Dayton Ohio overlooking The Soldier Circle memorial.