Ernest Wakefield

Photo e-mailed Ernest Henry Wakefield, 90, of Silver Spring, Maryland died Friday, March 25, 2005 in Mariner Health of Silver Spring after a lengthy illness. He was born February 11, 1915 in Vermilion, Ohio where he lived until moving to Chicago, IL in 1943. He was a resident of Evanston, IL from 1957 until 1997. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving in World War II. He was an assigned to the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bomb. He was an entrepreneur. Before WWII, he was an instructor of electrical engineering at the University of Tennessee. After the war, he founded Radiation Counter Laboratories, a nuclear instrumentation company in Skokie, IL and Berkeley, CA. He owned Imported Interiors, an import business in Evanston and Linear Alpha Inc., an electronics company also in Evanston. After he retired, he wrote technical books. Three volumes on electric vehicles were published by Ann Arbor Science and the Society of Automotive Engineers. He was an alumnus of the University of Michigan and received a PhD in Electrical Engineering. He was a member of the Michigan Alumni Association, and former president of the Board of Education in Evanston, IL. He was a member of Wilmette Chapter of the Chicago Lyric Opera and the Republican Club of Evanston, IL. Survivors include his son, John Frederick Wakefield and wife Janelle of Florence, AL; daughter, Ann Mary Wakefield of Silver Spring, MD; 2 grandchildren, Andrew and Rachel Wakefield. Preceding him in death were his wife, Hilda Gertrude (nee Overholt) Wakefield in 1970, brothers Albert Frederick Wakefield, William Ralph Wakefield, Frederick Wright Wakefield, Jr., George Patterson Wakefield and Theodore Dunmore Wakefield; sisters, Clara Hofrichter, Ruth Mary Wakefield and Alice Wakefield; and his parents, Frederick Wright and Mary (nee Poley) Wakefield. Friends may call on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 from 11 am until the time of service at 2 pm, at the Riddle Funeral Home, 5345 South Street, Vermilion, with the Reverend Terry Parker, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, officiating. Interment will follow in Maple Grove Cemetery, Vermilion. Memorial contributions may be made to the Inland Seas Maritime Museum, 480 Main Street, Vermilion, Ohio 44089. Online condolences may be made at www.riddlefuneralhome.com.