Edwin “Ed” Henry Fenner passed away on March 16, 2013. Ed was born August 23, 1921 in Edna, Texas to James H. Fenner and Zou Urquhart Fenner, the second of their three children. He graduated from Edna High School in 1939; The University of Texas at Austin in 1947 with a BBA degree with Honors; and the South Texas College of Law in 1956 with an LLB degree. After passing the State Bar Exam, he chose to continue work in business administration. Ed’s education was interrupted when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He immediately joined the Army Air Corps. He graduated as an Aerial Navigator and was held as a Navigation Instructor. He later completed Pilot training and flew sixty combat missions in Europe in P47 Thunderbolts during WWII, and he was recalled to active duty during the Korean War and served a year and a half during that was a captain in the U.S. Air Force. He married Lydia Jane Wright on October 6, 1951, while stationed at Tyndall Field, Florida, commencing a marriage of fifty-one years during which he had a vital role in raising his dear step daughter, Winifred Jane Lindsay. His dear son, James Edwin Fenner, was born to him and Lydia on May 26, 1953. After Lydia’s passing, Ed met Beatrice Faye Owens, and they were married in November 2003. Fenner was employed by Magnolia Petroleum Company in Dallas from 1947 to 1951; Shell Oil Company in Houston and New York from 1953 to 1963; the Texas A&M University System from 1963 to 1980. In June of 1980, he retired from A&M and moved to Midland and served as Vice President for Administration of MGF Oil Corporation. He later transferred to Parker & Parsley Petroleum Company and then to Pioneer Natural Resources, from which Ed retired from full time employment in 1991. He continued to work part time for several years.
Ed is survived by his wife, Bea Fenner of Midland; his son and daughter-in-law, Dr. James Fenner and Jeannie of Las Vegas, NV; his grandsons, Austin Fenner of Las Vegas and Trey Thompson and wife, Kim of Houston, TX; his brother, Rev. James Harvey Fenner of Sioux Falls, SD; together with their descendents; his sister, Nell Fenner Grover of San Antonio, TX; Bea’s children, Major General Darren Owens, Tim Owens, Linda Meadows, and Holly Barrett, together with their spouses, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Visitation is Monday, March 18 from 1-9pm at Ellis Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held Tuesday, March 19 at 10:30am at the First Baptist Church Chapel with Rev. David Johnson officiating. Interment will be in Southland Cemetery, Grand Prairie, Texas, where his body will be buried beside his first wife, Lydia Jane Fenner, who passed away in 2002. Arrangements are under the direction of Ellis Funeral Home. Online condolences may be offered at www.ellisfunerals.com.
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