by Marisa Hegyesi
Ernie is originally from McMinnville, Tennessee. He is 81 and for the last eight years has had a lovely significant other, Patricia Duer. Ernie has two sons: Ernest IV (age 53) and William (age 47).
Having qualified for an ROTC scholarship, he obtained a BA in Economics from Vanderbilt University. Later, he utilized the GI Bill and received an LLB (Bachelor of Law) from Tulane University.
Ernie’s first job in high school was a newspaper route. Then, Ernie served twenty years in the Army, including a tour as an Infantry Platoon Leader with the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam (“The Big Red One”). (Thank you for your service!) The money he saved while in Vietnam was utilized to purchase his first Mercedes – the SL 350.
Professionally, Ernie works in the Residential Multi Family Property Inspections and Management field. His work consumes about twenty days a month. He estimates driving 2500 miles a month. He purchased his new truck in 1999 with ten miles on the odometer. The truck now has 740,000 miles. He is retiring from conducting property inspections at the end of November. (Congratulations!!!)
Ernie with his SL and his GMC Truck
Ernie and Patricia recently purchased a second home at Amelia Island, Florida. For his retirement, he is considering continuing to do part time property inspections, volunteer one day a week at Cherokee Northside Hospital, and attend the Chattahoochee Technical College for a three-year program leading to an ASE Certification to learn more about auto repair and maintenance.
Ernie owns a 1972 350 SL which is currently being restored at Bud’s Benz. He also owns a 2005 SL 500. Six months ago, he gave his SL 560 to his younger son. Recently, Ernie gave his 2005 CLK 55 AMG cabriolet to his older son. Patricia was the recipient of his 2007 E350. His “dream” car would be an older Mercedes-AMG SL.
Presently in his free time, Ernie is participating in one 5K race a week. He also enjoys reading (over 500 books to date). His favorite place is the mountains. Hence, he moved this year to a senior community in Canton where he can enjoy the Georgia mountains daily. His favorite food is BBQ. He enjoys a good joke, listening to older country music, does not watch television and has no pets. Ernie’s favorite author is James Michener.
Ernie has served MBCA Peachtree as President (1998-1999) and is currently still a Board Member. He received two Partain awards and two Member of the Year awards.
He would like to be remembered for being dependable, reliable, and ethical.