Dean Corll - Early Life - Childhood

Childhood

Dean Arnold Corll was born on December 24, 1939 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the first child of Mary Robinson and Arnold Edwin Corll. Corll's father was strict with his son, whereas his mother was extremely protective of Dean. The marriage of Corll's parents was marred by frequent quarrelling and the couple divorced in 1946, four years after the birth of their younger son, Stanley. Mary Corll subsequently sold the family home and relocated to a trailer home in Memphis, Tennessee, where Arnold Corll had been drafted into the Air Force after the couple had divorced, in order that her sons could retain contact with their father. Corll's parents subsequently attempted reconciliation.

Corll was a shy, serious child who seldom socialized with other children, but who at the same time displayed concern for the wellbeing of others. At the age of seven, he suffered an undiagnosed case of rheumatic fever, which was only noted in 1950, when doctors found Corll had a heart condition, and he was ordered to avoid P.E. at school.

In 1950, Corll's parents remarried and moved to Pasadena, Texas; however, the reconciliation was short lived and, in 1953, the couple once again divorced, with the mother again retaining custody of her two sons. The divorce of Corll's parents was decreed on amicable grounds and both boys maintained regular contact with their father. Following the second divorce of Corll's parents, his mother married a travelling clock salesman named Jake West and the family moved to the small town of Vidor, where Corll's half-sister, Joyce, was born in 1955. Upon advice from a pecan nut salesman, Corll's mother and stepfather started a small family candy company named 'Pecan Prince', initially operating from the garage of their home. From the earliest days of the family candy business, Corll was working day and night while still attending school: He and his younger brother were delegated the responsibility of running the candy making machines and packing the produce, which his stepfather would sell on his sales route. This route often involved West traveling to Houston, where much of the produce was sold.

From 1954 to 1958, Corll attended Vidor High School, where he was regarded as a well-behaved student who achieved satisfactory grades. As had been the case in his childhood, however, Corll was also considered somewhat of a loner although he is known to have occasionally dated girls in his teenage years. At Vidor High School, Corll's only major interest was the high school brass band, in which he played trombone.