John Earl Earnest, Jr.

John Earl Earnest, Jr., 88, of St. Charles, Missouri passed away in his home on Friday, May 27, 2016. He was born on March 7, 1928 to John Earl Earnest and his beloved mother, Helen Francis Colombe who both preceded him in death. He is survived by his half-sister, Helen Annette Meyers, Pattie Sue Greenway; nephew Michael Thornton; niece Jennifer Gateley; his step-brother Jack (Sandy) Willis and his family and friends, the Peterson’s (Ralph, Dale, Brannon, Bret, etc.) who will miss him very much.




John joined the Navy at age 17 just before World War II came to an end. He was posted at Corpus Christi as a medical corpsman. He served in both the maternity ward and burn units. He graduated from Kansas University before working for Phillips Petroleum for a few years. He was then hired by the Jet Propulsion Laboratories in California, working on the early space programs as an aerospace engineer. He spent the rest of his career with JPL, eventually retiring in St. Charles, Missouri.




John was an avid chess player and at one time coached the Parkway Chess team to a national title. He was a HAM Radio operator and worked with EMT groups. John loved fly fishing and reading.




A memorial service will be held for him at Baue Funeral and Memorial Center in St. Charles, Missouri. He will be interred in Sapulpa, Oklahoma at South Heights Cemetery.