His son, Stephen Earnest, was asked to give a summary of his father’s most remarkable life:
“My dad, Elbert Edgar Earnest, was born February 23, 1914 in his grandmother’s farm house just outside Mena, Arkansas. He lived his first twelve years on the family farm in Arkansas then in Oklahoma. Due to his mother’s poor health, the family moved to the Estancia Valley in New Mexico, where he continued to be a hardworking farm kid.
“Dad graduated from Estancia High School then went on to UNM where he paid his way as a janitor, worked at the library, ran the school post office, and had other odd jobs. He married my mom, Atha Love Wright, in 1935 at the little one room church in McIntosh.
“My parents moved to Hot Springs where my dad taught Spanish at the junior and high school. He also worked at Carrie Tingley Hospital for two summers. At the start of WWII, they moved to California where he worked for Lockheed building airplanes during the war.
“They moved to Espanola in 1945 where my dad taught at Espanola High School and had a farm to meet the family’s needs. He built two houses for the family, which are still standing today. Active and concerned about local issues, he dedicated himself to help establish the Espanola Hospital.
“In 1954 our family moved from Espanola to Santa Fe where my dad started his own insurance business. For many years he had his office above Zook’s Pharmacy overlooking the plaza. In 1985 he retired and sold his business to Mark Muth.
“As he was his entire life, my ninety-nine year old dad is devoutly but quietly religious and goes to chapel every Sunday. He is a political observer, keeping up with local, national and international news. He was one of the founders of Common Cause New Mexico and is an anti-nuclear activist, a pacifist, and an insatiable reader, loves old time hymns, classical music, Roy Orbison, New Mexico’s tri-cultures and sopaipillas!
“My dad has written two memoirs, one of his personal life and one of his political activist life. At ninety-nine he has a wealth of memories still there for instant recall at any time. I can spend hours listening to him tell stories of his life. I love my old man.”
as told to Maria Montez-Skolnik
