Ernest Denny
The Rev. Ernest DeWitt Denny, 59, former Oberlin resident, died December 1, 1991, at St. Vincent Health Center, Erie, PA, after a brief illness.
Born in Jessamine County, KY, he lived many years in Oberlin and graduated from Oberlin High School. He served with the Army during the Korean War and was awarded the Purple Heart.
A graduate of Virginia Union University, Richmond, VA and Colgate Rochester Divinity School, Rochester, NY, he did postgraduate work at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA.
He was executive director of the Booker T. Washington Center, Erie, for 21 years. He also founded Primary Health Care Services for Northwestern Pennsylvania and was an associate minister at Shiloh Baptist Church, Erie.
A devoted husband and father, he was married to Anne, who said her husband "fought for his people, to see that equality and justice were given to all his people: those who had no voice and those who saw despair or no light at the end of the tunnel."
Survivors include his wife, Ann; a son, Todd Anthony of Houston; a daughter, Tanya Ann of Kent; and sisters, Henri M. Ogle of Elyria and Ruth Young, Geneva "GiGi" Jones and Kitty Denny-Smith, all of Oberlin.
Services were Saturday afternoon at Mount Zion Baptist Church with the Rev. Fred L. Steen officiating.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Booker T. Washington Center, Box 3037, Erie, PA 16512.