Earnest H. “Ritz” Wilkerson, 81, passed away Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020. Born Nov. 24, 1938, in Grafton, he was the second of two children born to the late John and Nannie Boggerty Wilkerson.
Earnest graduated from James Weldon Johnson High School and earned A.A. and B.S. degrees from St. Leo University. In 1958, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and retired in 1979. He began working for the U.S. Postal Service in the City of Hampton in 1979 and retired in 2003.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Alice Harrod Wilkerson; children, Earnest Jr. (Tesila), Kirk and Aaron Wilkerson; grandchildren, Natisha and Symaya; great-grandchildren, Naseer, Ny’Aira and Leighlani; brothers-in-law, Calvin Banks and Littleton Harrod (Pamela); and sisters-in-law, Delores (Roger) Martin, Connie Harrod, Maxine Robinson and Bernadette Robinson. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sisters, Mary Tyler and Janice Sedgwick (twin); brothers, Charles Wilkerson, William, Herbert and James Robinson.
The family will receive friends from 5 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 9, at Whiting’s Funeral Home. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, Jan. 10, at the funeral home chapel. Burial, with full military honors, will follow in Hampton Memorial Gardens.
Share online condolences with the family at Whiting’s Funeral Home.
