ERNY, ERNEST NORMAN (SPEED)

I was born to Frank and Fern Erny on

1928, the youngest of four boys, (Harvey, Charles, and Leroy) about fifteen miles southwest of Mullen on what we refer to as the school section. From what I have been told, there was four feet of snow on the ground and my grandmother Erny came and helped deliver me.

We lived on the school section until 1936 where we attended the Van Deusen School, either had to walk or ride horseback to get there. When fire destroyed our house we moved four miles east to the Mays place, where we lived and attended the Maire School until 1940.

My dad and brother Harvey went to an Aeronautical School in Lincoln and were guaranteed employment when they finished school, which turned out to be in Buffalo, N.Y. at the Curtis Wright Corp. My dad, and mother and I came back to Buffalo in the fall of 1940, and my brothers came back in time for school and Harvey went to work for Curtis Wright.

Due to family problems my mother and my brothers Charles and Leroy and I returned to Nebraska. My mother and I lived East of Seneca with my Uncle Charlie Buce. My mother did the house work and took care of my uncle who was failing in health, and I went to school in Seneca. We then moved to Mullen and I went to Mullen High School and worked for various ranches, Farrar Home Ranch, Reimer Ranch, Jim Vinton and Farrar River Ranch in the summer time. Harvey and Leroy both entered the service and returned to N.Y. I lived in the Mullen area until 1946 and then came back to N.Y. to stand up for Leroy's wedding and that is when I decided to stay in N.Y.

I got employment in a factory that built electric motors for fans and air conditioners until January 1951. Then I got married and went into the U.S. Army where I served in Korea. Upon discharge I returned to the factory where I worked until Aug. 1955 till the company moved out of state, I then got employment in another factory who made commercial knives for the wood and steel industry, for 13 years, and then got employ-ment with U.S. Post Office, where I have been for eighteen years.

I have been happily married now for 35 years to my lovely wife Eleanor and we were blessed with 3 boys, David, Lawrence and Gerry. Gerry is no longer with us, as he was born with Cystic Fibrosis and passed away the day before his tenth birthday, after being in Childrens Hospital for 3 years.

David is married and has 2 boys Shaun and Glenn. David is employed where they print check books. Larry is married and also has 2 boys, Derek and Adam. He is employed by a commercial roofing co.

In 1978 due to working a full time job and building a new home I suffered a bad heart condition which has slowed me down. I took 3 years of medication and taking it easy to finally recuperate to where I can lead a fairly normal life. I am an avid comemorative stamp collector, and am setting up a complete set for each generation.

My mother, father and brother Charles are all deceased along with a lot of my other relatives. Although I have lived most of my life in N.Y. I still consider Nebraska my home and try to visit as often as possible, I now find when visiting Nebraska there is always less relatives and people that I used to know. Have 2 more years to work before I can retire, and am looking forward to it, as we plan on doing some traveling around the good old U.S.A.