Earnest H. “Ritz” Wilkerson was the second of two children born to the late John and Nannie Boggerty Wilkerson on November 24, 1938, in Grafton, VA. He passed away on January 2, 2020.
Earnest graduated from James Weldon Johnson High School and earned his A.A. and B.S. degrees from St. Leo University. In 1958, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and retired in 1979. He began working for the U.S. Postal Service in the City of Hampton in 1979 and retired in 2003.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Alice Harrod Wilkerson; his children, Earnest Jr. (Tesila), Kirk, and Aaron Wilkerson; grandchildren, Natisha and Symaya; great-grandchildren, Naseer, Ny’Aira, and Leighlani; brothers-in-law, Calvin Banks and Littleton Harrod (Pamela); sisters-in-law, Delores (Roger) Martin, Connie Harrod, Maxine Robinson, and Bernadette Robinson. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sisters, Mary Tyler and Janice Sedgwick (twin); brothers, Charles Wilkerson, William, Herbert, and James Robinson.
A funeral service will be held on Friday, January 10, 2020, at 11 a.m. in Whiting’s Chapel. Burial with full military honors will follow at Hampton Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends on Thursday, January 9, 2020, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the funeral home.
Professional services entrusted to the staff of Whiting’s Funeral Home, 7005 Pocahontas Trail, Williamsburg, Virginia 23185. 757-229-3011. whitingsfuneralhome.com
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of MSG. Earnest H. Wilkerson, USA, Ret., please visit our floral store.