- Ernest Harold Featherstone was born November 2nd, 1933, on a cotton farm in Monroe, Union County, North Carolina, the 4th son of Charles Ervin Featherstone and Willie Myrtle Sipe (Ernest was 15 when his Dad died). He was named after his Uncle, Harold Sipe, a CIA agent for the federal government, who bought the farm for the family. When his uncle died in the line of duty, he bequeathed his gold pocket watch to his nephew, since Harold never married or had any children of his own. (To this day, the details involving the death of Harold Sipe's death remain a mystery....the actual date of death is not known, his body was shipped home from Washington, and only the year of death was provided to his family, as evidenced on his tombstone in the Greenwood Cemetary in Belmont, North Carolina).
Ernest graduated from Belmont High School and later joined the U.S. Navy stationed aboard a carrier. During his four year stint in the Navy he was a cook (KP Duty) and a radio man, the latter of which initiated his interest in obtaining an education in electronic engineering. He returned to Belmont, North Carolina after completing his Navy tour, where he attended Belmont Abbey College. He worked several odd jobs in order to put himself through school.
At age 22, he met and married Joyce Lee Cloninger on April 5th, 1957. After Ernest's marriage and birth of his first child (me, Darlene), he moved his family to Raleigh, North Carolina to complete his engineering degree at North Carolina State University. Upon completing his degree the family returned to Mt. Holly and lived in the upstairs apartment of Mrs. Stroup's home on Hickory Grove Rd. Ernie Jr., his second child and first son was born while they were living with Mrs. Stroup and her sister.
Ernest and Joyce built their first home in Holly Acres, Mt. Holly, where they lived until about 1963. The family then moved to California where he worked for Collins Radio. They spent less than a year in California and then transferred to Marion, Iowa, where his second son and third child Michael Lee was born. Pamala Freshour, Ernest's Neice joined with the family in Iowa, where she attended and graduated her senior year from high school.
Ernest took an engineering position with General Electric Co. [G.E.] and moved his family from Marion, Iowa to 410 Kale Street, Sattelite Beach, Florida, in 1965. He worked in Cocoa Beach at the Kennedy Space Center for G.E. from 1965-1969, during the Apollo 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, & 14 Space Missions. He met and worked with several of our nation's first astronauts; Neil Armstrong [the first man to walk on the moon], John Glenn, Gordon Cooper, Alan Shepherd, Gus Grissom, and Wally Schirra. He worked with other G.E. engineers in developing all the software for the Saturn 5 boosters and the Lunar Excursion Module [LEM], as well as the Apollo Space Craft Module. The LEM was the craft that actually landed on the moon!
In 1969, G.E. transferred Ernest back to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he subsequently took a position with RCA. He worked with RCA for approximately 3-4 years and then took a position with J.P. Stevens Company as their Director of Engineering. Stevens transferred their base of operations to Greenville, South Carolina. After commuting for nearly two years, Ernest sold his Stanley 15+ acre home on Black Snake Rd. and relocated to Greenville in 1985.
In 1988, when J.P. Stevens was sold due to a hostile take-over, Ernest and Bill Sibley took key members from their engineering department to partner a new corporation, CC+I [Computer Control Plus Integration], a thriving endeavor that specializes in automating and integrating process control systems for industries world-wide.
He's come a very long way from that poor boy who grew up on that cotton farm in Monroe, North Carolina.........we are proud of you Dad!
With Love, your daughter, Darlene Featherstone Lankford
|
- Ernest Harold Featherstone
Greenville
Ernest Harold Featherstone, 83, of Greenville, husband of Joyce Cloninger Featherstone, died Thursday, December 8, 2016.
Born in Monroe, NC, he was the son of the late Charles Ervin and Willie Myrtle Sipe Featherstone.
Ernest served in the US Navy and retired as President of CC+I, a software process control company.
Survivors, in addition to his wife since 1957, include one daughter, Darlene Honeycutt and husband Jimmy of Simpsonville; one son, Michael Featherstone and wife Lisa of Iron Station, NC; five grandchildren; and five great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Ernie Featherstone, Jr.
The family will receive friends from 2:00 to 3:30 PM on Sunday, December 11, 2016, at Thomas McAfee Funeral Home, Southeast Chapel.
Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society , 154 Milestone Way, Greenville, SC 29615 or to the American Heart Association , 156 Milestone Way, Greenville, SC 29615.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.thomasmcafee.com.
Published in The Greenville News on Dec. 9, 2016 - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/greenvilleonline/obituary.aspx?n=ernest-harold-featherstone&pid=183026106&fhid=28579&eid=sp_ommatch#sthash.wTdhEavB.dpuf
|
1933 - 2016 (83 years)
[1] 
