Earl H. Baumgardner, 96, of Greenville, passed away Friday, Nov. 30, 2018 at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center.
He was born August 4, 1922, in Poplar Bluff, Mo., the son of John and Lena (Dalton) Baumgardner.
Earl was a World War II veteran, serving in the submarine service of the US Navy. He served aboard the sub tender Pelias, based out of Pearth, Australia. He once traveled on a troop train for over 3,000 miles from Sydney to Pearth. He was also stationed at the sub base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He was honorably discharged in 1945. After the war, he worked for 25 years as a machinist and tool maker for Emerson Electric in St. Louis. He then became a barber and worked for another 26 years. He was Greenville's barber for over 21 years and said they were his most enjoyable years to work.
Earl was known as a master fisherman on the St. Francis River. It was said he could filet a 2-inch fish, even if it meant getting only two bites. He and his best friend Norma Ruth Goodman took a daily inventory of the squirrels at the Old Greenville Park campground. He was a long time member of the Greenville Baptist Church and will be sorely missed by all those who knew and loved him.
Preceding him in death are his parents, John and Lena Baumgardner, two sisters, Leona Wheelis and Marie Gordon, and his soulmate, Norma Ruth Goodman.
Survivors include one daughter, Kay Hines and her husband Larry, of Destin, Fla.; his special friends, Judy Howard and Roger Howard, both of Greenville, and countless other friends and neighbors.
Visitation will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Greenville. Funeral services will follow at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home chapel with Rev. Kenneth Gray officiating. Interment with military honors will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Poplar Bluff. In lieu of flowers, memorials have been requested to the www.HonorFlight.org., an organization that transports America's Veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit those memorials dedicated to honor the service and sacrifices of themselves and their friends.
Paid