Earl Sanford Fowlkes

Earl Sanford Fowlkes, age 91, passed away at his home in Chicago, Illinois, surrounded by his granddaughter and her family on Wednesday, September 12, 2018.

Service: 11:00 a.m. Saturday, September 22, 2018 in Biggers Funeral Chapel.

Visitation: Saturday, September 22, 2018 from 10:00 a.m. until service time at the funeral home.

Committal: A private ceremony for family will follow at the Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery.

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Lake Worth Area Historical Society (Attn: Lee McCay lee@lwahstx.org) or the Wounded Warrior Project https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org

Earl was born November 1, 1926 in Fort Worth, to Henry and Mamie Fowlkes. He was in the class of 1944 at Lake Worth High School and a member of the school’s first basketball and football teams.

Earl served our country in WWII in the Navy Air Corps as an Aviation Ordnanceman. In later years, he worked for General Dynamics in Fort Worth for 14 years then for their Pomona, CA Missile Division for 18 years; retiring as a Quality Systems Engineer Specialist in 1983. Earl found retirement to be a bore and in 1985 went back to work for McDonnell Douglas Helicopter in Mesa, AZ consulting on the Apache Helicopter and ultimately retiring (for the last time) in 1991.

In 2000, Earl moved back to Lake Worth and became very active in the community, including: President of Lake Worth’s Lion’s Club, volunteer/contributor for Kiwanis and Lion’s Christmas Express Programs and the Texas Lion’s Children’s Camp, Steering Committee member of Lake Worth’s Historical Society, member of Lake Worth’s Planning and Zoning Commission, Economic Development Corporation and Police Training Advisory committees. Additionally, he was a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.

In August 2015, Earl moved to Hawthorn Woods, IL (suburb of Chicago) with his granddaughter Karen and her family. He made friends and ‘adopted’ many new family members…the only part he didn’t like was the winters! His favorite family trip each year was going to Branson, MO to see the shows. In July, 2016 Earl was able to participate in the Chicago Honor Flight – this was a one day trip to Washington, DC to show gratitude to our WWII and Korean War veterans; a day filled with remembrance and closure. In July 2017 Earl was diagnosed with early stages of Pancreatic Cancer; he underwent surgery in September, 2017 and was showing great signs of recovery until August of this year when he discovered that it had spread. In Earl’s last days he was fortunate to have spent time with both of his daughters, Linda Harper and Judy Fleming and both granddaughters, Karen Patton and Teal Fleming. The few days that the family was together were filled love, healing and comfort.

Earl is survived by his daughters, Linda Harper and Judy Fleming; and granddaughters, Karen Patton and Teal Fleming. Other surviving family members include, step-children, Joanne Tucker, Neil Laverty, John Laverty and Diane Huston; and step-grandchildren, Michelle Lecklitner and Kimberly Mayden, as well as seven great grandchildren.