Born October 7, 1933 in Edinburgh, Scotland, he was the son of Albert and May Ehlinger. He grew up in southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and later lived in Cameroon, Colombia, Panama, Florida, and finally, Texas.
He was a passionate pilot and proudly served in the Royal Rhodesian Air Force. He married Joanne Stockdale in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in 1957. They moved with their family around the world, through his work with agricultural spraying finally settling in Panama where he owned an agricultural spraying company, Atopan, working with Chiquita International and where he made life-long friends. He later built a successful company in the United States, Micronair LLC, along with his wife, supplying agricultural spraying equipment to spraying companies throughout the Americas.
He enjoyed spending time on the ocean on his boat and the family has sweet memories of bonfires at the beach in Panama, as well as always calling him to be their Mr. Fix-It. He would fly the family on fun jaunts at a moment’s notice, and loved cameras and conversion vans.
He is survived by his wife, Joanne Ehlinger, son Roderick Ehlinger (wife Nancy) of Yulee, FL, daughters Judith Palumbo of Austin, TX, and Tania Barth (husband Chris) of Austin, TX; seven grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren with one more on the way.
A Celebration of Life service for Eric will be held on Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 2:00 PM at Weed Corley Fish Funeral Homes and Cremation Services, 411 Ranch Road 620 South, Lakeway, TX 78734.
