Ernest was born to James Aaron and Purna Mae (Brown) Whitaker on April 4, 1931 in Queen Creek, Arizona. In high school, he played for his school’s football team all while serving in the Navy and Air Force. Once out of high school, he married the love of his life, Carol Suzanne Kettering in 1953. Shortly after he was married, Ernest left to serve in the Army in South Korea from 1953 to 1955. After returning from South Korea, he graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education in May of 1957. Once graduated, Ernest moved to Reno, Nevada and taught fifth grade at Davey Crockett Elementary School from 1959 to 1963. Returning back to Phoenix, Arizona from Reno, Nevada in 1963, Ernest taught sixth and then seventh grade at Greenway Middle School until he retired in 1986. During his teaching career, Ernest helped develop the Little League in Phoenix and worked on committees to establish Community Education programs as well as the G.E.D. programs throughout the Paradise Valley school system in the 1960s and 1970s. Of his eight siblings, three survive him: two brothers, Jay Whitaker, Duaine Whitaker, and a sister, Rachel (Sue) Senn. He leaves behind three children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
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