Obituary: Longanecker, Ernest J.
Ernie was born in Winthrop, Washington on January 7th, 1948.
He attended school in Winthrop, graduating in 1966.
He was President of the Associated Student Body and held many other student government offices during high school.
He played trumpet in the school band, and was a standout athlete in four sports (best known for his left handed dunk in basketball) earning numerous varsity letters in all four years of high school.
He participated in many other school activities and organizations, frequently in leadership positions.
Ernie earned a BA and an MBA from Eastern Washington State College.
He served in the military as part of the 101st and 85th Airborne Divisions and was awarded the Silver Star with valor for his bravery in the Vietnam War.
He was a smokejumper at North Cascades Smokejumper Base, in Winthrop, WA, from 1970 through 1974.
After smoke- jumping, he worked in the aluminum production industry at Kaiser Aluminum and later as an independent aluminum broker.
He enjoyed his extensive travel throughout the world for his work and for fun.
In 1976 Ernie took up beekeeping as a hobby, starting with two hives and ending with more than a dozen.
He knew just what to do with the bees, as this had been the profession of his father.
He would often say, “As a young boy I thought tending the bees with my father was such hard work, now as an adult, it’s a lot of fun”.
He took great pleasure in giving jars of honey to family and friends, and they all immensely enjoyed the fruits of his labor.
Ernie loved to hang glide and skydive, built and flew ultralight airplanes, and drove flashy sports cars way too fast.
He was wonderfully witty, and he enjoyed his family, friends and living life to the fullest.
A beloved brother, uncle, father, and wonderful loving grand- father, he is survived by two sons Sam and Skyler, daughter-in-law Cassie, daughter Joy, and his bright new love, his grandson Max.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 10th, 2014 at: Gretna Green Chapel, 1403 N. Washington, Spokane, WA.