Ernie Lewis Wilhoit, 78, of Tampa, Florida passed away on February 10, 2019. He was born in Urbana, Illinois and spent his high school years in Collinsville, Illinois where he was All-State in basketball and football and he played baseball.
He attended Indiana University on a basketball and baseball scholarship were met his wife Janie and were married for 55 years. He graduated from Indiana University with a Degree in Math and Physics and an MBA in Quantitative Business Analysis. Upon graduation, he went to work for IBM working in sales, marketing and quality in multiple states.
In 1981, he attended a Tres Dias weekend and during “his” weekend, Ernie decided to dedicate his life to serve the Lord and go fulltime into Ministry. As a result, he decided to retire from IBM after 25 years. For the next 25 plus years, he was engaged in Men’s & Youth Ministry in Connecticut and Florida. In Connecticut, Ernie started both Teen Life Associates and the Teen Center where he designed and developed Leadership Programs for teens and started a teen center and mentoring program. Upon moving to Florida, he continued those passions. He cherished all the ministries he worked with but loved his Men's Group often sharing Proverbs 3:5-6.
He loved 50's music, playing dominoes, dogs and his grandchildren. He was involved with Fuzzie Buddies Pet resort until his death. He was preceded in death by his wife Janie and his brother’s Tracy and Jim Wilhoit. He is survived by his daughter and his son Mike Wilhoit (Jeannie), his grandchildren; Ben, Noah, Mia and Zach Wilhoit and his sister Jan. The Service in Tampa will be on March 12 – Grace Family Church – Waters Campus – at 7pm. In Collinsville, Ill March 16th – Cooper Creek Church at 2pm. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Pioneer Bible Translators or One City Ministry in Ernie's Name.
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