Ernest Brownlee

August 16, 1933 - August 6, 2019

Ernest Deverne Brownlee, age 85, passed away on Tuesday, August 6, 2019 in Coliseum Hospital in Macon. He was preceded in death by his wife Dianne Gibson Brownlee and his parents Carlton and Thelma Hilton Brownlee. He is survived by his daughter Alyson Brownlee, his brother Michael Carlton Brownlee, two nieces Kelly Brownlee Kirkland and JJ Brownlee Hill, two nephews Bill Deland and Jeff Tipton, and several cousins. He was born on August 16, 1933 in Tifton, GA. He learned to fly in 1949 (prior to turning 16). He graduated High School in 1953. He was in the Navy 1953-1957 during the Korean conflict in the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Blimp Squadron in Brunswick, GA for 2 years and then on the USS Jupiter in Japan for 2 years. He met Dianne in 1955 while he was in the Navy. After the Navy, he attended college at Norman Park 1957-1958 and he attended college at Southern Tech 1958-1959, He started working as a Civil Servant at the Warner Robins AFB (WRAFB) in 1959. He married the love of his life, Dianne, on New Year’s Eve 1959 and daughter Alyson was born in 1960. He and Dianne retired together in 1988, living at Lake Sinclair in GA and in New Orleans, LA. He had a love for flying airplanes, operating Amateur radios, shooting guns, fishing, traveling, water sports and rooting for his beloved sports teams. A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday August 10 at 2:00 pm at the Lake Country Baptist Church in Eatonton, GA. Friends and family are invited to reminisce, grieve and support each other. Condolences may be expressed online at: www.williamsfuneral.net Williams Funeral Home and Crematory of Milledgeville is in charge of arrangements.