ETHINGTON, Eldon Lee 1924-2004

ETHINGTON, NELSON

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 2/17/2009 at 18:59:20

ELDON L. ETHINGTON

CHARLES CITY, IOWA — Eldon L. Ethington, 79, of Charles City, and formerly of Rudd, died on Tuesday, June 29, 2004, at Floyd County Memorial Hospital in Charles City.

Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Rudd United Methodist Church, 611 Sixth St. in Rudd, with the Rev. Jim Turner officiating. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Rudd, where military honors will be conducted by members of American Legion Post H.D.S. No. 449, Nora Springs. Visitation will be held from 9 a.m. until the time of service on Friday at the church. Memorials may be given to the Charles City Arts Council.

Eldon Lee Ethington was born Aug. 17, 1924, at Rudd, a son of Hazel and Chloe (Nelson) Ethington. He was a 1943 graduate of Rudd High School. Eldon served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II with the 4th Combat Cargo Group and flew the “hump” from India into China and Burma.

He later attended the University of Iowa, and a watch repair school in California. After his schooling, he re-turned to Rudd and opened a watch repair shop in the Ethington Drug Store at Rudd. He worked for a short time as a fill-in projectionist at the Gem Theatre in 1956, and then became the projectionist for the Charles Theatre until the past couple of years. He also was the projectionist at the 218 Drive-In Theatre, Charles City, until its closing.

Even if you do not recognize his name, several generations of Charles City residents will remember him as the slightly built man at the theatre with the bow tie.

Eldon’s favorite hobby was building scale model lighter-than-air dirigibles, up to eight feet in length and weighing about an ounce per foot. The models, of his design, took up to six months to build. He built intricate interior frameworks of balsa wood, kite string, and thread, with a lightweight vinyl out-er skin. He filled them with helium or natural gas, and displayed them throughout his home.

He is survived by a sister, Roberta (Harold) Norby, of Nora Springs; 11 nieces and nephews, Greg, Tom, Brad, Steve, Jannis, Carol, Nancy, Linda, Debra, Robin, and Shelley.

He was preceded in death by his parents; twin brothers, Keith and Kenneth, who died in infancy; sisters, Shirley Page and Eileene Muller; and a brother, Gayle Ethington.

Sheckler Colonial Chapel, 114 N. Hawkeye in Nora Springs, is handling arrangements; (641) 749-2210. www.colonialchapels.com.

[Mason City Globe Gazette]