Vernon Elbert Vandegrift Jr. Vernon Elbert Vandegrift Jr. died April 19, 2012. He was born August 3, 1918, in Odenville, AL to Myrtle Campbell Vandegrift and Vernon Elbert Vandegrift. His father died 6 months later in a flu epidemic, while his mother lived to 98. Vernon grew up in Birmingham, AL and married Dorothy Ann Manning, December 7, 1940. He started work with the L. C. Smith Typewriter Company in 1938. Vernon volunteered for Officers Candidate School during World War II and served in the Ordinance Division in Aberdeen, MD. After World War II, he joined Friden Calculators, which later became Singer Business Machines and...
Vernon Elbert Vandegrift Jr.
Vernon Elbert Vandegrift Jr. died April 19, 2012. He was born August 3, 1918, in Odenville, AL to Myrtle Campbell Vandegrift and Vernon Elbert Vandegrift. His father died 6 months later in a flu epidemic, while his mother lived to 98.
Vernon grew up in Birmingham, AL and married Dorothy Ann Manning, December 7, 1940. He started work with the L. C. Smith Typewriter Company in 1938. Vernon volunteered for Officers Candidate School during World War II and served in the Ordinance Division in Aberdeen, MD. After World War II, he joined Friden Calculators, which later became Singer Business Machines and TRW's Customer Service Division, retiring as Division Manager in 1982 in Atlanta, GA.
In his earlier years, he taught 17-year-old young men in Sunday School and coached softball teams at Birmingham's Norwood Baptist, Ruhama Baptist, and Huffman Baptist churches. After moving to Charlotte in 1982, he was a member of Jim Seagraves' Sunday school class and the Serendipity Group at Carmel Baptist Church.
Vernon is survived by daughters, Carol Wilenchek and husband Steve, and Dorothy Powell and husband Charlie of Charlotte, NC. Grandchildren are Catherine W. Espinosa and husband Thomas of Paris, France, Stephanie Wilenchek of Minneapolis, MN, Kimberly Powell Lloyd and husband David of Rutherfordton, NC, and in Charlotte, Susan Powell Courtney and husband Steve and Charles Vandegrift Powell and wife Cristy. His 11 great-grandchildren are Devon Cummings, Zen Iwakawa, David Lloyd, Elizabeth Lloyd, Bradley Lloyd, Madeline Courtney, Marshall Courtney, Thomas Courtney, Nathan Vandegrift Powell, Grant Powell, and Katie Powell. Vernon was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy, in 2003.
The family remembers Vernon as a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Friends likely remember him as the only 93-year-old man on the golf course.
A memorial service to celebrate Vernon's life will be at Plantation Estates in Matthews at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, May 12, 2012. Interment will be in Jefferson Memorial Gardens in Trussville, AL at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, Vernon requested contributions to the Samaritan's Fund of Plantation Estates, 733 Plantation Estates Dr., Matthews, NC 28105-6572.