Bio of Ernest John Webbe

Born, June 29, 1939 to Paul Wallace Webbe and Olga Bridget (nee: Brady) Webbe and was the eldest of four children: Janet, Betty, and Donald would follow.

Ernie grew up and went to school in Kirtland, Ohio, Born as the US struggled with entering World War II, Ernie's childhood was during the war and post war era. Like many, his teenage years were during the '50s when Rock & Roll was taking root and cars were the status symbols of independence.

Ernie grew up in Kirtland, Ohio, but being a small town, much time was spent in near by neighborhoods. During his teen years, Ernie would take small jobs to earn spending money. One job he had mentioned on more than one occasion was cleaning of chicken coops. He swore he would never do that again.

As he came closer to the end of high school, he, like many others, came distracted by things that life throws at older teen boys. On this point, he told of an effort the family had made to help him with a report due, without which he would not graduate.

On the main street through Kirtland was a small shop/diner. Ernie frequented this place on account of a young waitress, from the neighboring town of Euclid, working there by the name of Penny Lucrecia Lintern. They were married October 28, 1961.

Her father, George M. Lintern, took a job with Sandia Labs near Albuguerque, New Mexico. Ernest and Penny followed her family out to New Mexico. Ernie made mention of working as a delivery person, while in Albuguerque. While in New Mexico, Ernie had gotten word from family in Ohio, the military draft notices were being sent out. Ernie had a choice, take the draft as the government decides or enlist in the branch of choice. He decided to enlist in the Army. After boot camp, he was stationed in Schenectady, New York; which is upstate near Geneva and Albany. Penny moved with him to Geneva, New York where their first son, Bruce, was born in 1963. Seeing the turmoil grow between the US and Russia, as well as escalations in Viet Nam, Ernie fulfilled his obligations to the military and moved to join Penny's side of the family once again.

For an Ohioan, New York would have been more familiar, but family is family, so, New Mexico and California, no matter how different, he would make it work.

Due to the economics in New Mexico, Sandia Labs was laying off people; Los Alamos was near closing, home values dropped and couldn't be sold on the market. George Lintern took the family and left the house in New Mexico, turning it back over to the bank. He had taken a job with Lockheed Missile and Space Co, in Sunnyvale, California. Working there for just a couple of months, he encouraged Ernest to apply with Lockheed. Although Ernie was hesitant at first, questioning his skills, George boosted his confidence and Ernie was hired on at Lockheed on August 25, 1965.

Shortly after arriving in San Jose, California, Ernie and Penny with their son in tow, took up in an upstairs two bedroom apartment on Oakmont Drive. In 1969, with another on the way, they decided the two bedroom apartment might not be the place to stay and decided to take advantage of much of the growth and building happening in the yet to be Silicon Valley. They purchased their first home in a new track of homes near Snell Ave. and Blossom Hill. They chose a home that would be built on Ariel Drive.

In 1970, Ernest and Penny's daughter, Michelle, was born. Soon after, in 1971, to help out with the family situation, Ernest went on Swing shift. He would baby sit in the day, while Penny was at work, and Bruce was at school.

As with the growth in the in the valley, new homes popping up everywhere, they took advantage of the opportunity and sold the home on Ariel Drive to move to a new track called Thousand Oaks. They chose a four bedroom tri-level home on Shandwick Court, right next to one of the original owners of the land. The longer Ernie lived in California, the more he loved it. While he missed his side of the family and having tried from time to time to convince them of the benefits of moving to California; he never regretted ever having to shovel another driveway free of snow again.

With the example set by George, Sr., over time, Ernest encouraged other family members to apply with Lockheed. George Lintern, Jr. stayed with Lockheed for over 10 years and especially enjoyed the time he had worked in Palo Alto working more with the Research and Development teams. Also, his wife Penny. The pillar of stability in the family was Ernest with over 33 years at one company, Lockheed Martin.

During the economic crisis of the early 1970's, when gas lines were long, whether your day was even or odd, Ernest bought a small sub-compact car, not so well known back then, the Honda CVCC to get him self back and forth to work.. He liked the gas milage, and boasted how he could do 55mph on the way to work, and 65mph on the way home, because the afternoon winds helped him along. Ernest and the family came home one day to find an interesting site. Apparently, George Jr. and a friend had stopped by for a visit. The family wasn't home, and they had no calling card, so George Jr, and his friend, picked up the Honda car, and set it on the front lawn, to let the family know they had been in the neighborhood. Scoff as they might at the tiny little car, Ernest was proud of that car that got him to work, and provided the family transportation. Only when Bruce grew out of the back seat did he upgrade to a larger vehicle.

From the first year he was with Lockheed, to his last, Ernest took great pride in taking care of the company that took care of him and his family. His dependability and motivation for getting the job done, done right, done on time, done on budget is reflected in the numerous Commendations, Awards, Letters and Mentions of Appreciation he has received over the years. His first was a commendation for perfect attendance. His Certificates of Appreciation for years of service at 10, 25 and 30 years. Most notable is a Product Improvement Award in 1996 for Cost Savings Valued at $94,986. His last was a commendation for performance resulting in a positive performance award score from the customer. He was awarded this commendation just 2 1/2 months before his passing.

Acknowledgements

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