Earl Kenton McCall

Earl Kenton McCall Sr. was born on October 1, 1917, in Abingdon, VA, the son of Herbert Meek McCall Sr. and Nettie Mae Williams McCall. He grew up near Abingdon and then went to Roanoke High School during the Great Depression. He also attended Melrose United Methodist Church in Roanoke. In 1942, just after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps to serve the United States in World War II. He was eventually assigned to the 20th Air Force, 8th bomber group on Guam during the battles for Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the Battle of Japan. The B-29 Flying Super Fortresses he worked on were part of the final air campaign including the nuclear drops on Nagasaki and Hiroshima that ended World War II. After the War he married Dorothy Evangeline Cundiff and they honeymooned at the Savoy dancing to Duke Ellington's swing band. Earl attended Roanoake College on the GI Bill and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Degree in Chemistry and a minor concentration in German. After a brief stint in college in Oklahoma he came back to Roanoke and went to work for American Viscose Roanoke plant in the early 1950s, working there until near the company's end in Front Royal as Avtex Corporation in 1980. He then attended Lord Fairfax Community College at age 62, graduated Magna Cum Laude and was hired by IBM Manassas as a Chemist and eventually ran the clean room there using a Mass Spectrometer to look at atomic particles. His last two jobs included running the chem lab at a local rock quarry in Stephens City until around 1997 and then serving as a caregiver after a brief one year retirement, Earl was an avid horseman, reader, swimmer (into his 90s) camper and auto mechanic. He also had a lush garden in the Shenandoah Valley and he was a member of Front Royal United Methodist Church for 34 years. He supported his wife Dorothy as Docent of Belle Grove and as a vital member of the Front Royal, Warren County Garden Club. He enjoyed Bridge Club, attended Bible Study and read the Bible and the Koran in toto. He and his wife had 3 children, Earl Kenton Junior, Phillip Lynn and John Alexander, born in 1952, 1954 and 1964 respectively. Earl Kenton Junior predeceased him in 2010 due to a brain tumor. His middle son worked in Iraq during the war for 2 years, lives on Great Mountain, and works in Front Royal at the inland port, the youngest son is an attorney in New Mexico. He is also survived by four grandchildren and four great grandchildren. At age 97 Earl Senior had a full life. He spent the last fifteen years of his life until August of 2014 working as a selfless caregiver, first for his wife who passed in 1999 due to cancer, and then for his brother Herbert Meek ("H.M.") McCall Jr. a WWII veteran who is 91 and currently lives at Amerassist in Front Royal. A funeral service will be conducted on Sunday, January 11, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. at Turner-Robertshaw Funeral Home with Reverend Denise Bates officiating. The family will receive friends Sunday, January 11, 2015 from 12:00 p.m. until 1:00 p.m. Entombment will be on Monday, January 12, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens, 5737 Airport Rd. NW, Roanoke, VA 24012