Charles Leon Earl Obituary (1941

Charles Leon Earl, 80, of Russellville, formerly of North Vernon, IN, died unexpectedly after falling ill, on Sunday, November 27, 2011 at Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock. The son of Chester and Marguerite West Earl, he was born September 14, 1931 in North Vernon, Indiana. He was a 1949 graduate of North Vernon High School. Three months after graduation, Leon got a job on the Line Gang at Indiana Telephone Corporation. The company served approximately 70,000 customers in 41 exchanges and 19 counties in southern Indiana. Leon worked for the phone company during the daytime and attended Indiana University at Bloomington and also University of Purdue at Jeffersonville, IN at night. After 15 months of work and school he volunteered for a four year tour of duty in the US Navy and became an Aviation Electrician, serving at the NAS in Hawaii during the Korean War. Upon discharge from the Navy, he returned to Indiana. He and Loretta Green married on March 11, 1956 at Tea Creek Baptist Church in Lovett, IN. During Leon's 41 years in the telecommunications industry he saw many changes and managed many different technologies. Among those were plug-in switchboards and party-lines, telephone wire insulators, cell towers and digitized cellular wireless systems. He worked at the Telco Plant Department to the company's accounting department and for the next few years and was directly involved in computerizing the company's accounting and billing systems. In 1975 he was named the Operating Vice President of the company. In 1978 the company was acquired by the Contel Corporation and Leon transferred to Contel's central region headquarters in St Louis, MO. In 1982, Contel was acquired by General Telephone and Electronics Corporation. He moved to Russellville in 1983. In 1990, GT&E was acquired by Verizon Communications. At the end of 1990 at age 59, and after eight years of managing Contel's operations in Arkansas, he retired from Verizon Communications. He was a member of the Russellville Noon Rotary Club where he served as director for four years. He served on the board of the battered women and children's shelter for 16 years and recently was involved in organizing a Habitat for Humanity Program for Pope County. He and Loretta enjoyed working at the Manna House for the past three years. He and Loretta attended First United Methodist Church for 28 years and were members of the Carden Sunday school class. Leon's passion was his family. He often shared this statement with friends: "My greatest accomplishment is my family!" He was an avid golfer, and enjoyed attending his grandchildren's sporting events. He was preceded in death by his parents, twin sons, Matthew & Mark Earl, brother William Bud Earl and a step grandson Jeremy Grace. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Loretta Earl, Russellville; two daughters, Lisa Marvin and husband Eric, St. Joseph, MI, Lori Grace and husband Danny, Russellville; a brother, Jim Earl, North Vernon, IN; five grandchildren, Ally and Charlie Marvin, St. Joseph, MI, Ethan and Seth Grace, Russellville, Jennifer Grace Pipes & husband James, Russellville; three great grandchildren, Jordan Barrett, Jacob Pipes and Colton Pipes. Funeral will be 1 p.m., Saturday, December 3, 2011 at The Chapel at First United Methodist Church in Russellville. Reverend Roy Smith will officiate. Burial will be at Rest Haven Memorial Park in Russellville, by Humphrey Funeral Service. Full military honors will be provided by the Rogers-Rye Post #2283 of the VFW. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., on Saturday, at the church. VIDEO TRIBUTE PDF Printable Version