Earnest Loye Gaston passed from this life Sunday, June 2, 2019, at the age of 81. He was born on Dec. 5, 1937, near Eunice in Texas County as the second of nine children of Neva Faye (Frampton) and Murl Estle Gaston.
Earnest grew up in the Eunice, Mo., community. Times were very different then. One of his earliest memories was of the two-room house they lived in with “Mom’s” wood cookstove on the left and the table “Dad” built on the right in the main room and the kerosene lantern used for light. He remembered a few years later when they brought electricity down what is now Highway 17 to Eunice and how that changed things. (Highway 17 was just a dirt road back then).
His Dad, Murl, acquired the Eunice post office and started a country grocery store business to go along with it. Earnest helped with the store and it’s here that he met the girl he would later marry, Nelda Ann Crowley.
Earnest placed his faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior while a teenager during a revival at Glad Tidings Baptist Church. He and Nelda were subsequently baptized in Big Creek in 1954. He remained confident in his faith throughout his life.
Earnest enlisted in the Army in 1955, did Basic Training at Ft Leonard Wood and then went to aircraft mechanic school in Ft. Eustis Virginia. Upon completion he married Nelda and they moved to Mannheim, Germany, where he was stationed from 1956 to 1959.
Upon returning to the U.S., Earnest continued in the Army for a few years at Fort Leonard Wood and began to demonstrate he could do about anything. He built a house in Houston, traded it for land past Bucyrus and built another house there. He left the Army and “accidentally” got into the dairy business by buying milking equipment and several cows at an auction.
Over the rest of his life he had many businesses. He left the dairy business for the Upton country store, bought another farm and raised beef cattle, began a sawmill and expanded it into a fairly large sawmill and pallet business at Roby, worked in the Oklahoma oil fields for a couple of years, began rebuilding salvaged cars, turned that into a salvage yard and finally finished with a dog kennel business.
Throughout these many jobs and businesses, family always came first, as Earnest and Nelda raised their four sons, Rick, Ronnie, Roger and Ryan.
Earnest was preceded in death by his wife, Nelda; his parents; and brothers, Robert, Chuck and Paul. Those left to cherish his memory are his four sons and their wives, five siblings, 11 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews and other family members.
Funeral services for Earnest L. Gaston were 10 a.m. Monday, June 10, 2019, at Evans Funeral Home, Houston. Burial followed in Big Creek Cemetery. Pallbears were Rick Gaston, Ronnie Gaston, Roger Gaston, Ryan Gaston, Roman Gaston, Matt Gaston, Josh Gaston, and Ethan Gaston.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributing to the Big Creek Cemetery c/o Evans Funeral Home.
PAID
