In honor of

Ernest Taisuke Osumi

The namesake of our hard shell camper

Uncle Ernie is Sharon's son's uncle, but we all considered him our Uncle. He passed in 2015, and left Sharon some money which we used to help pay for our Sprinter. Since we wouldn't have it otherwise, we honor him by naming our ride after him. (We call our Sprinter "Ernie T", the "T" being short for Tortuga. It is our hard shell for traveling slow down the road.)

Ernie was born and raised in Wahiawa on Oahu in the then territory of Hawaii in 1929. He was playing baseball the morning Pearl Harbor was attacked, and subsequently experienced internment with the rest of his family and community for being Japanese American. He served in the Korean War as a translator, and then attended first the University of Wisconsin and then Georgia State University where he received his engineering degree. The Air Force assigned him to Warner Robins Air Force Base where he met his wife Louise, and they both lived there until their deaths. They had no children of their own, but treated Josh as if he was their grandchild.

Ernie was a quiet, serene soul who loved his wife and their dog. He also loved to play golf, and was always happy to tell you how many birdies he got on his last round. He enjoyed coming to Florida to visit us, and became everyone's Uncle Ernie at our Christmas Eve parties by his gentle humor.

Some photographs of Ernie are here.