Submitted by: Dan Rich

South Bend Tribune 1/7/2005

Donald W. Ernst

June 8, 1922 -- Jan. 5, 2005

Donald W. Ernst, 82, of Mishawaka, passed away suddenly Wednesday morning, January 5, 2005, in the Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, Mishawaka.

Don was born June 8, 1922, in Mishawaka, a son of Elmer and Bertha (Schmitt) Ernst. He grew up in Mishawaka and graduated from Central Catholic High School, South Bend. Don served his country from 1943 to 1945 in the U.S. Army during World War II. On October 19, 1946, in St. Bavo Church, Mishawaka, he married Agnes S. Bokhart. The couple made their home in Mishawaka where they raised their family.

Don retired from Dodge Reliance in 1981. He was a member of St. Bavo Catholic Church, the Disabled American Veterans, and was a former member of the National Catholic Society of Foresters. Don possessed great knowledge and skill when it came to building things and with woodworking. He made machines to help in classes for the disabled at St. Bavo School. He also enjoyed fishing and being outdoors.

Most of all, Don's family was the center of his life. Spending time together brought him great joy.

His surviving family includes his wife of 58 years, Agnes; two sons, Stephen P. Ernst of South Bend and David M. (Kathryn) Ernst of Mishawaka; a daughter, Susan M. (John) Noppen of Aurora, Illinois; a brother, Edward (Julia) Ernst of Mishawaka; two sisters, Virginia Haschmann of Webster, New York, and Lillian Shirley of Rochester, New York; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Don was preceded in death by his parents, and by a sister, Agnes Ernst.

Friends are invited to join the family for a Mass of Christian Burial which will be celebrated on Saturday at 10 a.m. in St. Bavo Catholic Church, 511 W. Seventh Street, Mishawaka. Burial will follow in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, Osceola. There is no public visitation.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the American Heart Association.

The Ernst family is being served by the Thallemer, Goethals & Wells Funeral Home, 503 West Third Street, Mishawaka.